Serena and Venus Williams fall in thriller return to U.S. Open women’s doubles

Playing together at the U.S. Open in New York for the first time in four years, Serena and Venus Williams on Friday night lost in a thriller three-set match in the first round of the women’s doubles tournament, one that saw them take center stage at Arthur Ashe Stadium for more than three hours.   

After dropping the first set, the Williams sisters mounted an epic comeback, forcing two tiebreakers, but fell short to the duo Maya Joint — who had beaten Serena Williams at Wimbledon this summer — and Hao-Ching Chan, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-8).

The 44-year-old Serena returned to the sport this year after four years out of action. This marked her second loss to Joint this summer. She fell to the Australian in three sets at Wimbledon in her return to singles play, and she and Venus then had to pull out of their doubles match after Serena hurt her knee.

The Williams sisters won the U.S. Open women’s doubles championship in 1999 and 2009 and are 27-8 in their ten appearances. They last played together at the tournament in 2022, losing in the first round in what was expected to be Serena’s final match in Flushing Meadows.

Joint and Chan are the No. 14-seeded team.

Going into Friday, nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion Bethanie Mattek-Sands thought they would be a little intimidated by the Williams sisters.

“I mean, the night match against the Williams sisters with the New York crowd, it’s going to be tough,” Mattek-Sands told CBS News.

Early Monday morning, the 46-year-old Venus bowed out of her 26th singles appearance at Flushing Meadows, falling in straight sets to fellow American wild card Sofia Kenin after not getting on the court until midnight.

She lost 6-2, 7-6 (6) in what could be her final singles match at a Grand Slam, if not her illustrious career. It was her 15th consecutive singles defeat dating back to her last victory in Washington in July 2025.

Prior to Friday, Venus had lost six singles matches in a row at the U.S. Open since winning in the first round in 2019. Ahead of the doubles match, Venus was not ready to contemplate her future in tennis.

“I don’t think I should have to,” she told a small group of reporters after the match. “My mind is fully focused on that: how I recover from this completely insane evening and get ready for the next one.”

Last week, Serena and Carlos Alcaraz were knocked out in the mixed doubles quarterfinals by Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, 5-4 (4), 4-1, after winning their debut match as partners.