Serena and Venus Williams made their long-awaited return to doubles at the Cincinnati Open, but their comeback ended in a narrow defeat.
The American sisters lost to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns in a thrilling contest played in front of a packed crowd. It was their first doubles match together since the 2022 US Open. That tournament was also Serena’s final event before she stepped away from professional tennis.
The 44-year-old eventually returned to competition in June, beginning with doubles before making her singles comeback at Wimbledon as a wildcard.
However, Serena suffered a knee injury during her first-round defeat by Maya Joint at Wimbledon, forcing her to pull out of a planned doubles appearance with Venus.
Venus, 46, had already been competing regularly on the hard courts, while Serena was playing her first match since Wimbledon.
The sisters struggled at the start and quickly fell behind their opponents. They responded strongly in the second set, however, winning it 6-1 to take the match into a deciding 10-point tie-break. Kostyuk and Stearns raced into a 6-0 lead, but Serena and Venus refused to give up. They fought their way back to 8-8 and appeared to have a chance of completing an unlikely comeback.
Their opponents held their nerve in the closing moments before a double fault from Venus ended the match.
Despite the defeat, the comeback gave the sisters another opportunity to share the court after a four-year break.
Serena has played just one singles match since returning, while Venus has struggled in singles but enjoyed better results in doubles.
The sisters could need wildcards if they want to compete at the US Open, which begins on 30 August.
At their peak, Serena and Venus formed one of the most successful doubles partnerships in tennis. Together, they won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals.
Their partnership has now stretched across four decades.
