Serena and Venus Williams made a much-awaited return to women's doubles after a four-year break, entertaining the Cincinnati Open crowd with their trademark shot-making before narrowly losing a thrilling three-set contest on Monday night.
The sisters, competing as wild cards in their first doubles match since the 2022 US Open, went down 2-6, 6-1, 8-10 to the newly formed pairing of Marta Kostyuk and hometown player Peyton Stearns. It was also Serena and Venus' first appearance together at a non-Grand Slam tournament since the 2016 Italian Open.
The legendary duo struggled to find their rhythm in the opening set, which they lost 2-6. They quickly turned things around in the second, dominating Kostyuk and Stearns 6-1 to force a deciding match tie-break.
Kostyuk and Stearns raced into a 6-0 lead in the tie-break, but the Williams sisters mounted a dramatic comeback. Consecutive double faults from Kostyuk helped Serena and Venus reduce the deficit to 8-7. Serena then produced a stunning overhead smash to save a match point at 9-8, sending the packed crowd into a frenzy. However, the match ended on the following point when Venus double-faulted.
"I thought it was fun," 44-year-old Serena said after returning to competitive action this summer. "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 having fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again."
Venus, 46, echoed her sister's sentiments. "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," she said.
Despite going up against two of tennis' most celebrated players, 24-year-olds Kostyuk and Stearns handled the overwhelmingly pro-Williams crowd, with Stearns also playing in her hometown.
"I kind of expected it, but it stung a little bit that this is my hometown," Stearns said of the crowd. "I won't hold it against anyone. The crowd was going for them, but we used it to our advantage and flipped the script."
Kostyuk added that the spectators had been treated to a memorable contest. "The crowd got the show. They probably couldn't ask for anything better. At the end, a tie-break is a lottery. You never know which way it's going to go."
The Williams sisters share an extraordinary doubles legacy, having won 14 Grand Slam titles, 22 team titles and three Olympic gold medals together. Serena has 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, while Venus has won seven.
Elsewhere at the Cincinnati Open on Monday, defending champion Iga Swiatek fought back from a set down to defeat Maria Sakkari 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 and extend her winning streak to eight matches. Second seed Elena Rybakina beat Magdalena Frech 6-4, 7-6, while world No. 3 Jessica Pegula defeated fellow American Emma Navarro 7-5, 6-2.
In the men's draw, world No. 3 and top seed Alexander Zverev secured his 46th ATP Tour victory of the season after overcoming Terence Atmane 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6).
