Serena and Venus Williams fall just short in US Open return
The Williams sisters lost out on a chance to keep fighting for the US Open doubles title after losing a nail-biting first-round match
Serena and Venus Williams were dramatically denied a sensational return at the US Open in a three-set match with two tie breaks.
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The sisters, who have both won singles and doubles championships at Flushing Meadows, took 14th seeds Maya Joint and Chan Hao-ching to a dramatic deciding-set tie-break.
The Arthur Ashe Stadium was buzzing with excitement when the Williamses led 5-0. But Serena’s serve let them down at a crucial stage, with Joint and Chan winning 6-3 6-7 (6) 7-6 (10-7).
The siblings were making their return to the US Open doubles tournament for the first time since 2022, and 27 years after they first won the title as a pair.
The sisters won the US Open doubles championship in 1999 and 2009. Venus Williams has won the US Open singles trophy twice, and Serena Williams has won it six times.
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Their much-anticipated doubles comeback was certainly an occasion worthy of the wild card.
There could be more to come as well, after ESPN commentator Caroline Wozniacki revealed she believes Serena wants to return to singles next year after losing to Joint in the first round of her singles return to Wimbledon this year.
The 23-time singles Grand Slam champion suffered a knee injury in that match, which ruled her out of the doubles with her sister at SW19.
They might both be over 40-years-old, but the Williamses rolled back the years at times, and all of Ashe was on its feet when a Venus volley was put away by Serena’s swinging winner.
But two breaks of Serena’s serve – which had looked in good shape at Wimbledon and in her short mixed doubles run with Carlos Alcaraz last week – cost them the first set.
They hit back in the second-set tie-break, finally converting a fifth set point when a Joint overhead floated long.
The decider also moved into a tie-break, the first time the duo had been past 5-5 in a third set since 2001.
But the sisters stumbled badly in sight of the finishing line, and a Chan volley ended the much-anticipated comeback.