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Tennis icon Venus Williams teamed up with British star Katie Boulter to win her first match since last year's US Open, and may now bag herself an invitation to Boulter's wedding this year. Williams and Boulter came back from a set down to beat Jiang Xinyu and Xu Yifan 4-6 6-3 10-7 at the Madrid Open on Saturday, and will now face No. 7 seeds Su-Wei Hsieh and Sofia Kenin.

Both women had already suffered defeat in the singles draw. Playing her first match on clay in five years, Williams lost to Spanish wildcard Kaitlin Quevedo in the first round, while Boulter got to round two but was beaten by fifth seed Jessica Pegula. For Williams, this is her first victory of any kind since she reached the US Open quarter-finals with Leylah Fernandez last September. And the 45-year-old was happy with how she adjusted to the clay - and to a new doubles partner.

"You never know what's gonna happen when you play with a new person, and it's not like you get to practice weeks before. Like, you get to practice 30 minutes before, and then you are just put right in," the former world No. 1 said.

"So we had a great energy out there. I think it can only get better, because now, we've gone past the first hurdle, we've played together, so now we know each other, and it's also building trust, too, like, Okay, what does that person do? What does this person do?"

Williams' last win on clay came in 2019, and it was extra satisfying to claim her first victory of 2026 on the surface. "Yeah, definitely. And the courts, it's slippery out there, so I had a wipe out in the beginning," she smiled. "Thankfully, she got my racket, we got back up and kept going. So it's definitely an adjustment, and even in doubles too, you're still adjusting to how the ball's bouncing, so I'm glad I worked that out."

Before getting on court with the seven-time Grand Slam champion, Boulter said the kid who grew up watching Williams would be "screaming" during the match. And it looked like she was inside.

The world No. 61 said: "It was great. It was so much fun. I mean, obviously, just to have the privilege of being on court and also being on the same side of the net as well. I don't want to be the other side of the net, so yeah, it was really nice to be able to get the chance to play with Venus, and I enjoyed everything."

Both women are also very busy off the court. Boulter will marry her fiance, ATP No. 8 Alex de Minaur, this year. Meanwhile, Williams is preparing to co-chair the upcoming Met Gala with Beyonce, Nicole Kidman and Anna Wintour.

The American also had a wedding of her own to plan last year, as she married Italian actor Andrea Preti. Asked if she had any advice for Boulter's upcoming nuptials, she replied: "My only tip for her is just take your time. Just take that, you don't get that moment back. And you just gotta enjoy it fully and just take some days off. So that's my advice."

Reflecting on her own wedding, Williams added: "It was the time of my life. I just... I'm still in withdrawal. It was the best time, and you don't get that time back. And I waited a while, so that made it even more rewarding to, like, get there at a later stage in life. And you get to where you're supposed to be when you're supposed to be there."

And the five-time Wimbledon champion may have scored herself an invitation after getting a win with Boulter on the doubles court. "Hey, you never know. She's coming!" the Brit laughed.

Following her doubles campaign in Madrid, Williams will head back to America to co-chair the Met Gala. She's having to miss the Italian Open as a result, a huge sacrifice, given her husband is from Italy. "Sadly, I'm gonna miss Rome because of it. My husband and I are gutted, because he's lives in Rome, so I don't even want to talk about it," she added. "But it's kind of, like, once you get that opportunity, you gotta take it, so it's gonna be, I'm gonna trade the racket in that week."

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