Venus Williams will compete in the Women’s doubles at the US Open after being awarded a wildcard with Canada’s Leylah Fernandez.

At the age of 45, Williams returned to her home Grand Slam tournament for a record-extending 25th time earlier this week.

She exited the singles in a gallant first-round defeat by Czech 11th seed Karolina Muchova on Monday but will return to the Flushing Meadows Courts with Fernandez, 23 years her junior.

They will face the sixth seeds – Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Australian Ellen Perez – in the first round later this week.

In addition to her seven Grand Slam singles trophies, Williams owns 14 major titles in women’s doubles, all with her younger sister, Serena, as her partner and two of those came in New York, in 1999 and 2009.