NEW YORK: Serena Williams and Venus Williams returned to the US Open together for the first time since 2022 on Friday night, and for much of their opening-round doubles match, their comeback looked capable of stretching beyond a single evening.
Instead, a contest full of momentum swings ended in the narrowest kind of disappointment.
The Williams sisters lost 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7) to Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint, bringing their women’s doubles campaign to an end after a deciding match tiebreak in New York.
It was the final set that made the loss even more memorable. Serena and Venus led by a score of 5-0 in the 10-point tiebreaker and found themselves close to making their comeback effort come true. Unfortunately for them, Chan and Joint took away that lead and won the match 10-7.
For the Williams sisters, the night was about more than the result. It marked their first US Open appearance together since 2022 and brought them back to a tournament where their doubles history stretches across decades.
A return that nearly became a comeback win
The match did not begin in Serena and Venus’ favour.
After dropping the opening set 6-3, they stayed close enough in the second to force a tiebreak. They won it 8-6, extending the match and setting up a deciding third set.
There, they again found themselves chasing. The sisters fell behind 4-1 before recovering to draw level, turning what had looked like a difficult finish into another genuine opportunity.
That recovery carried into the deciding tiebreak. Five straight points gave the Williams sisters a 5-0 lead, but the advantage disappeared before they could convert it into victory. Both sisters double-faulted during the tiebreak after producing some of their strongest tennis late in the third set.
The circumstances were unusual even by the standards of their long Grand Slam careers together. This was only the second major doubles match in which Serena and Venus had played a deciding-set tiebreak. The previous instance came in the third round of the 2009 French Open.
Serena’s comeback reaches New York
The US Open appearance also continued Serena Williams’ return to competitive tennis in 2026.
Serena, now 44, came back to the sport this year, while 46-year-old Venus has continued competing on tour.
Their New York reunion had been delayed earlier in the summer. Serena faced Joint in singles at Wimbledon and lost in three sets. The sisters were then due to play doubles there but withdrew after Serena injured her knee.
That made Friday’s match their eventual return as a doubles team at a major, and it produced a far more competitive contest than the first-set score alone might suggest.
Serena also found herself across the net from a familiar recent opponent. Joint had already beaten her at Wimbledon, meaning the Australian has now been part of two of Serena’s defeats during her 2026 comeback.
Another chapter at a tournament tied closely to their partnership
The Williams sisters have won the US Open women’s doubles title twice, in 1999 and 2009. Following Friday’s defeat, their record across 10 appearances at the tournament stands at 27-8.
That history gave their return an added layer.
This was not simply Serena stepping back onto a tennis court, nor Venus continuing another season on tour. It was the sisters competing together again in New York, at an event where their partnership had previously ended with championships.
Their latest run lasted only one match, but it did not unfold like a ceremonial appearance. They lost the first set, survived a second-set tiebreak, recovered from 4-1 down in the third and then built a five-point lead in the deciding breaker.
The result ultimately belonged to Chan and Joint. The lasting image of the Williams sisters’ return, though, may be how close they came to turning it into something more.
Also Read: iPhone 18 Pro Launch: Last-Minute Rumors on Colors, Ultra Price and Base Model Delay
