Williams Sisters Defeated in Dramatic US Open Doubles Return
Serena and Venus Williams made a highly anticipated return to the US Open doubles tournament, losing a dramatic three-hour first-round match to Maya Joint and Chan Hao-ching.
Four years after their last appearance together at the US Open, Serena Williams and Venus Williams returned to the Arthur Ashe Stadium, delivering an unforgettable night for the New York crowd despite a narrow first-round defeat.
The legendary sisters, who share 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals, fell to the 14th-seeded duo of Australia's Maya Joint and Taiwan's Chan Hao-ching in a dramatic three-set thriller.
A Dramatic Three-Hour Battle
Joint and Chan secured their victory with a score of 3-6, 7-6 (6), 7-7 (7) after nearly three hours of play. The match reached its climax in the final set tiebreak, where the Williams sisters held a commanding 5-0 lead before Joint and Chan mounted a stunning comeback to silence the crowd of nearly 24,000 spectators.
Following the match, the 20-year-old Joint expressed her awe:
"It was an amazing match. They played really well, and the atmosphere on the court... I don't think either of us has ever experienced anything like that before. Playing against two legends of the game is just a very special moment."
Reunited by Family Request
Serena Williams, 44, revealed that the reunion with her 46-year-old sister Venus was prompted by her nine-year-old daughter, Olympia.
Serena, who stepped away from professional tennis four years ago to expand her family, shared how her daughter convinced her to play:
"She told me, 'You need to play with Auntie Venus.' She said it so clearly and so calmly. She's like my mom—she doesn't talk much, but when she does, you listen. And I just said, 'Okay.'"
For Joint, this marked her second victory over Serena this summer, having previously defeated her in singles at Wimbledon in June.
