Williams sisters fall in US Open doubles opener but leave New York buzzing

Serena and Venus Williams, whose combined age exceeds 90, were beaten 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (10-7) by 14th seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Maya Joint in the first round of the US Open women's doubles. A packed Arthur Ashe Stadium turned out for the match, unusual attention for a first-round doubles contest.

The sisters started slowly, losing the first set, before rallying to level the match in the second. In the decider, they trailed 4-1 and appeared out of contention, but their trademark resilience carried them into a first-to-10 match tie-break. They raced to a 5-0 lead in the tie-break before their opponents fought back, aided by double faults from both Williams sisters, to close out the win.

Following the match, the sisters were reported as "not available" to speak to media. Earlier in the week, Serena had hinted in an interview she might want to return to singles competition, while Venus said after her singles defeat on Monday that she felt no obligation to plan her future beyond doubles.

The siblings transformed tennis after emerging as teenagers in the 1990s, amassing 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them and 14 doubles titles as a pair. This marked their first appearance together at Arthur Ashe Stadium in four years. An earlier planned reunion at Wimbledon was derailed by a knee injury Serena sustained during her singles match there, and the pair eventually reunited at the Cincinnati event, where they lost a tie-break to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.

Opponent Maya Joint said afterwards that playing against such legends of the game had been a uniquely special experience.