A reunion that ended on a double fault
Four years. That is how long it had been since Serena and Venus Williams last played doubles together.
The Cincinnati Open in Mason, Ohio, gave them the stage on Monday night. Peyton Stearns and Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk sent them home in the first round, 6-2, 1-6, 10-8.
It came close to going the other way. Stearns and Kostyuk sprinted to 6-0 in the deciding super tie-break, the 10-point shootout that stands in for a third set on the pro tours. The sisters dragged it back to 8-7, then 9-8. Venus finished it with a double fault.
“I thought it was fun. I thought it was special. We shook off a bit of rust in the middle of the match and started to find our rhythm,” Serena said. “I didn’t come here to win this event. Winning would obviously be great. But in this situation, it’s about enjoying it. It was really cool to be able to do that again.”
Try it for $0.99.
Three doubles matches, and not much to show for them
That was Serena’s third doubles outing of the year. She is 44, and back on tour after stepping away in 2022.
She won alongside Canadian Victoria Mboko at a Wimbledon warm-up in London, then the run stopped when Mboko picked up an injury. Berlin brought another first-round exit, that time with Czech player Karolina Muchova.
The singles record fits on one line. One match in 2026, a first-round loss at Wimbledon to Australia’s Maya Joint. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion got hurt in that match, which cost her the doubles draw with her sister.
New York is the next question
Serena has said nothing yet about the US Open, which starts on 30 August. Venus sits at 3 wins and 9 defeats in doubles this season, and 0 from 10 in singles. She is 46 and still turning up.
“It was our first time together in ages. It was great for us to get out there and do it,” she said afterwards.
Discover more TENNIS news on our mathodds site and app!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply