Serena and Venus Williams reunite for doubles thriller at Cincinnati Open
TheGrio...
The sisters fell in a match tiebreak in their first doubles appearance together since the 2022 U.S. Open.
Venus and Serena Williams shared a doubles court Monday night for the first time since the 2022 U.S. Open, dropping a three-set thriller to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns at the Cincinnati Open. ESPN reported the sisters lost 2-6, 6-1 (10-8), falling in a match tiebreak they had nearly stolen outright.
Down 6-0 in that tiebreak, the pair clawed back to within one point at 9-8, aided by consecutive Kostyuk double faults and a Serena overhead. A Venus double fault ended it.
Serena, who returned to the tour this summer at 44 after three years away, framed the night as a success regardless of the scoreline. She called it fun and special, noted the rust wore off midway through, and made clear she hadn’t entered chasing a title.
“I thought it was fun. I thought it was special. We kicked off a little rust in the middle of the match and just, you know [were] starting to feel it. I didn’t come out here to win this tournament. Winning is obviously great. But in this position just, you know, having fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again,” she shared of their performance.
Venus, 46, took a similar view, describing the reunion as inevitable and saying it was simply good to be out there together again.
“Eventually we would find our way to each other. It’s our first time playing together in forever. It was great for us to get out there and do it.”
The appearance had been delayed once already. The sisters intended to team up at Wimbledon before withdrawing when Serena injured her knee during her singles loss. They entered Cincinnati on a wild card, marking their first doubles outing outside a Grand Slam since the 2016 Italian Open.
For their opponents, both 24 and playing their first tournament together, the atmosphere was its own obstacle. Stearns grew up in Mason, where the event is held, and admitted the crowd’s loyalty to the Williamses stung a bit in her hometown, though she said she wouldn’t hold it against anyone. Kostyuk noted that the crowd got the show it came for, adding that a tiebreak is essentially a coin flip.
The partnership’s résumé remains staggering, 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, 22 overall and three Olympic gold medals. Every doubles title Venus has won came alongside her sister.