Serena and Venus Williams’ doubles return was stopped at the first obstacle as the wildcards lost to Czechs Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in the opening round of the US Open, 7-6(5) 6-4.
Playing together for the first time since Roland Garros 2018, the Williamses failed to convert two set points on their opponents’ serve at 5-4 and eventually lost the tightly-contested 72-minute first set in a tiebreak. Hradecka and Noskova opened the second set with a 3-0 lead and even though the Williamses won three of the next four games, the Czechs broke serve again on their second match point.
By the time 17-year-old Noskova was born in November 2004, Serena and Venus Williams had already won six Grand Slam titles, an Olympic gold medal and three WTA titles. In total, the decorated doubles team has won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, three Olympic doubles titles and five on the WTA Tour.
This could be the last doubles match together in the Williams’ sisters illustrious careers, as Serena is saying goodbye to tennis. However, since Serena has still not 100% confirmed that the US Open is indeed her final tournament, we shouldn’t be surprised if the Williamses show up in another doubles competition.
In the US Open singles draw, Venus lost to Alison van Uytvanck in the first round, while Serena is still active as she awaits her third-round match against Ajla Tomljanovic.
