Cincinnati Open: Serena Williams and sister Venus Williams lose thriller in first doubles match together since 2022 | tennis news
Serena and Venus Williams were narrowly defeated in their first doubles match together in four years during a dramatic first-round tie-break elimination at the Cincinnati Open.
The Williams sisters, wild card participants in the event, were defeated 2-6, 6-1, 10-8 by Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk and American Peyton Stearns.
The fan favorites recovered from a rusty first set to dominate the next and force the 10-point tie-break, where the Williams sisters trailed 6-0 before rallying again to threaten a famous comeback.
Consecutive Kostyuk double faults saw the Williams sisters reduce the deficit to 8-7, before the match ended in disappointing fashion with a Venus Williams double fault.
“I thought it was funny,” Serena said. “I thought it was special. We got a little rust in the middle of the game and, you know, [were] starting to feel it.
“I didn’t come here to win this tournament. Winning is obviously cool. But in this position to just, you know, have fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again.”
Serena Williams, left, and Venus Williams were defeated at the Cincinnati Open
The Williams sisters, who together have won 14 Grand Slam titles in doubles, were due to team up in doubles at Wimbledon but had to withdraw due to Serena’s injury.
The sisters’ appearance together was their first since the 2022 US Open and their first at a non-Grand Slam event since the Italian Open, and the match was only Serena’s fourth since returning to the WTA Tour this summer at age 44.
The Williams sisters narrowly missed out on a first-round victory in Cincinnati.
“Eventually we will find our way to each other,” Venus, 46, said of her decision to play doubles again. “It’s the first time we’ve played together in a long time. It was great for us to go out and do it.”
Kostyuk and Stearns will be playing their first tournament together and will now face third seeds Guo Hanyu and Kristina Mladenovic in the next round.
“The crowd got the show,” Kostyuk said. “They probably couldn’t ask for anything better. In the end, a playoff is a lottery. You never know which way it will go.”
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