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Venus Williams and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen have reached the women’s doubles semifinals at the 2026 Guangzhou Open after defeating Lyudmyla Kichenok and Makoto Ninomiya 6-1, 6-3 in Wednesday’s quarterfinal. The pair needed just 58 minutes to secure the win in Guangzhou, China, giving Williams her first doubles semifinal appearance since 2016.
The result advances the American veteran and her Indonesian partner into the last four of the WTA 250 hard-court event. Their progress also extends Williams’ return to competition in Asia, where she is playing for the first time since the 2019 tournament in Tianjin.
Williams and Tjen set the tone by taking the opening set 6-1, then maintained their advantage in the second to close out a straight-sets victory at 6-3. The win over Kichenok and Ninomiya moved them into the semifinals without needing a deciding set or match tiebreak.
Their performance followed a strong opening-round display. On October 26, the pair defeated Ekaterine Gorgodze of Georgia and Kimberley Zimmermann of Belgium 6-0, 7-5. That match gave them a clean start to the tournament, and the quarterfinal result confirmed that the partnership could carry its form into a more demanding round.
For Williams, the semifinal berth is a notable milestone during her selective return to the WTA Tour. The seven-time Grand Slam singles champion was awarded wild cards for both singles and doubles in Guangzhou. Her participation has attracted attention not only because of her long career, but also because she is continuing to compete at 46.
The WTA’s video headline describes the result as Williams’ first doubles semifinal since 2016. Williams has a long record in doubles, including 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles alongside her sister Serena Williams. The Guangzhou run is therefore a return to the latter stages of a doubles draw after several seasons in which her appearances have been selective.
The event also represents Williams’ first competition in Asia since Tianjin in 2019. The WTA announced in September that she had accepted wild cards for both draws at Guangzhou after most recently competing in singles and doubles at the US Open. The return offers her a chance to build match rhythm in a different setting late in the season.
Tjen, meanwhile, brings an Indonesian presence to the partnership. The pairing combines Williams’ extensive experience at the highest level with Tjen’s current tour campaign, and their two wins in Guangzhou have put them one victory away from the doubles final.
Williams and Tjen are scheduled to face the winners of the quarterfinal between Haverlag and Kulambayeva and the top-seeded pairing of Kozyreva and Lumsden. The precise opponent depends on the outcome of that match, so the semifinal draw should be checked against the tournament’s latest official schedule before publication updates are made.
The Guangzhou Open runs from October 26 to November 1, with the singles final scheduled for the final day. The doubles competition will conclude during the same tournament week, and Williams and Tjen now have an opportunity to turn their quarterfinal momentum into a place in the title match.
Williams’ return to a doubles semifinal is a significant marker for a player whose career has spanned multiple generations of professional tennis. Her continued participation provides a high-profile storyline at a WTA 250 event, while the partnership with Tjen gives the Indonesian player a chance to share a deep tournament run with one of the sport’s most decorated champions.
For the tournament, their progress adds interest to the doubles draw and gives fans another match to follow ahead of the weekend finish. The result is not yet a title, but two straight-set wins have put the pair within reach of the final and made their Guangzhou campaign one of the week’s notable doubles stories.
