Serena Williams Loses At The US Open
Serena Williams is 44 years old and has been retired from tennis for four years. She came back to the US Open Friday night anyway, and gave the crowd at USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center exactly what they came for before falling just short of a win.
She and Venus, 46, played their first doubles match together at a Grand Slam since the 2022 US Open and took Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint the full distance in a three-hour, two-minute thriller, winning the second set in a tiebreak to force a decisive third, then building a stunning 5-0 lead in the 10-point final tiebreak before Chan and Joint won 10 of the next 12 points.
Final score: 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7). Both sisters double-faulted at the worst moments of the tiebreak. It was agony.
They walked off smiling anyway. They declined to speak to the media. The crowd gave them a standing ovation regardless.
Serena came back to competitive tennis this summer after a four-year absence, losing to Maya Joint in three sets at Wimbledon in her singles return, then pulling out of doubles with Venus after that match injured her knee.
This was their proper reunion. They are now 31-3 in the first round of majors together. The one loss that hurts most is Friday's, a 5-0 lead, converted into a 7-10 defeat, on the court where they won together in 1999 and 2009.
