Williams Sisters Fall Short in Doubles Comeback in Cincinnati

Serena and Venus Williams returned to doubles competition together for the first time in four years at the Cincinnati Open, but fell to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk and American Peyton Stearns 2-6, 6-1, 8-10 in front of a packed crowd.

The sisters had not played together since the 2022 US Open, which turned out to be Serena's last tournament before she stepped away from the sport. The 44-year-old made her doubles comeback in June before also entering Wimbledon singles as a wildcard, where a first-round loss to Maya Joint left her with a knee injury that postponed a planned doubles reunion with Venus at the time.

Venus, 46, said after the match that the pair had waited a long time to share a court again and always find their way back to one another, praising the grace and encouragement they give each other.

The duo struggled early, dropping the first set, before shaking off early rust to take the second. In the deciding 10-point tie-break, they fell behind 6-0 but rallied, with Serena producing two service winners to level things up, though Kostyuk and Stearns ultimately closed it out after a double fault from Venus.

It was Serena's first match since Wimbledon, while Venus had already competed in singles and doubles at several hard-court events in recent weeks, though she has lost her last 13 singles matches. Either sister would need a wildcard to compete at the US Open, which starts on 30 August.

At their peak, the Williams sisters won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals together.