Williams Sisters’ U.S. Open Doubles Run Ends in Three-Set Thriller

Serena and Venus Williams saw their long-awaited return to the U.S. Open women’s doubles draw end in a dramatic three-set defeat on Friday night. Playing together at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2022, the sisters endured a grueling contest that spanned more than three hours at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The Williams pair dropped the opening set 6-3 but rallied to force two tiebreakers. Ultimately, they fell to the unseeded-but-effective pairing of Australia’s Maya Joint and Taiwan’s Hao-Ching Chan, winning the decisive tiebreaker 10-6 to seal a 6-3, 6-7 (8), 7-6 (10) victory.

The loss marks another setback for the 44-year-old Serena, who returned to professional tennis this year after a four-year hiatus. Joint, a 20-year-old Australian, had previously defeated Serena in singles at Wimbledon earlier this summer. During the doubles encounter, Serena sustained a knee injury, a recurrence that had already forced her to withdraw from her scheduled doubles match alongside Venus at the All England Club.

The 46-year-old Venus also faced elimination in her singles draw early Monday morning, bowing out of her 26th U.S. Open appearance. Playing against fellow American wild card Sofia Kenin after a midnight start, Venus lost 6-2, 7-6 (6). The defeat extended her winless streak in singles to 15 consecutive matches, dating back to a victory in Washington in July 2025.

Before Friday’s doubles match, Venus declined to speculate on her future in the sport. “I don’t think I should have to,” she told reporters regarding her career trajectory. “My mind is fully focused on that: how I recover from this completely insane evening and get ready for the next one.”

The Williams sisters, who captured the U.S. Open women’s doubles title in 1999 and 2009, hold a 27-7 record in nine tournament appearances together. Their last meeting at the event in 2022 ended in a first-round loss, widely anticipated to be Serena’s final appearance in New York.

Meanwhile, last week’s mixed doubles quarterfinal exit saw Serena and Carlos Alcaraz lose to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, despite winning their opening match as partners.