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Venus Williams made a losing return to the clay courts of the Madrid Open on Tuesday evening, suffering a 6-2 6-4 defeat at the hands of Spanish wildcard Kaitlin Quevedo. It was Williams' first match on the clay since 2021, and the former world No. 1 later admitted that she only started adjusting to the surface in the final game.

But the seven-time Grand Slam champion will still have the opportunity to get her shoes dirty at the Caja Magica this week, as she has teamed up with British No. 3 Katie Boulter in the women's doubles draw. The wildcard pair will face Xinyu Jiang and Xu Yifan in the first round.

It's an unexpected link-up. Williams has played doubles with the likes of Leylah Fernandez and top-20 stars Elina Svitolina and Ekaterina Alexandrova in recent months. Boulter herself rarely plays doubles, often teaming up with fellow Brits like Sonay Kartal and Emma Raducanu.

After losing her first match on the clay in five years, Williams explained that it was Boulter's coach who reached out to her, but she's looking forward to feeling the Brit's energy on court.

"Yeah, she asked me to play, or her coach did. I would like to think she asked me to play, and I was happy to say yes," she laughed. "She's got great energy. She's got a great attitude. She's a fighter. I'm looking forward to playing with her because I think our energies will really match."

It's a welcome opportunity for the 45-year-old to get more matches on clay. Until now, her last outing on this surface came at the 2021 French Open, where she lost in the first round. Williams started slow, immediately going a double break down. She retrieved one, but was broken again and lost the first set 6-2.

The American looked better early in set two, and raced into a 3-0 lead. But things fell apart, and Quevedo, who is 21 years younger than Williams and had only won one tour-level match before now, reeled off six of the last seven games to claim victory.

"The stadium always has the best feeling. It's been just so many years, so it was great to walk out on the court," Williams said after returning to the Caja Magica. "I felt like in the last game I started to move better on the clay. But then it was the last game!

"All these things take adjustments. I started my practice on clay a couple weeks after Miami. I haven't really played on clay in years. But I enjoy the clay, it's fun. I played against a very inspired opponent today.

"I mean, I think she played well, like really well, she was super focused and what have you. I don't think I just ever really found my rhythm on the ground strokes. The conditions weren't easy for both of us, so much wind and rain and interruptions in the match. I don't think that was helpful."

Williams won't be able to play the upcoming Italian Open - something she's gutted about - as she is co-chairing the Met Gala with Beyonce, Nicole Kidman and Anna Wintour. But she seems keen to return to the French Open, where she will be relying on organisers to give her a wildcard.

She added: "I mean, to get my feet dirty, this was a great start. I'm not able to play Rome, I have other commitments, unfortunately, so I'm really super sad about that, actually. My husband is Italian, so we feel sad that we can't be there. So we would love to keep it going on the clay."

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