Venus and Serena Williams lost to Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the opening round of the US Open doubles on Thursday night, their first match together in more than four years and 25 years after they made their tournament debut.
The sisters received the prime-time night slot on Arthur Ashe, which is uncommon in doubles, in front of a loving maximum crowd — the third in four days for Serena — that included Billie Jean King, NBA commissioner Adam Silver, and Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Despite playing together clearly enjoying themselves, the duo failed to gain momentum after dropping the very competitive opening set in a tiebreak after 72 minutes. They rallied back to win three of the next four games after falling behind 3-0 and trailing by a break to begin the second set, but it wasn’t enough.
After the match, Hradecka even apologized to the crowd in an on-court interview, recognizing that the outcome wasn’t what the supporters had hoped for.
Serena is anticipated to play her farewell tennis match at the US Open before transitioning away from the sport. Venus playfully referred to her younger sister as “the boss” when she told reporters earlier this week that Serena had the notion to collaborate with her one final time. The team has won three Olympic gold medals and 14 major doubles championships, including two in New York.
When they last worked together, they advanced to the third round of the French Open in 2018.
Fans have flocked to see Serena, 40, in her matches and even during practice sessions since she revealed her probable retirement from tennis in a piece published in Vogue last month.
She set attendance records at the competition on Monday and Wednesday night with both of her singles matches. Thousands of people showed their love and support for Serena by congregating around the practice courts on Thursday for the sisters’ joint session two hours prior to the match.
The sisters won a 19-stroke point in the first set tiebreaker, which Serena highlighted with three swinging volleys. This was probably the loudest moment of the match. They now led 4-3 as a result, and it quickly became 5-3.
However, Hradecka and Noskova scored the following four points to win the set. The Williams sisters tied the score at four in the second, but the Czech team quickly went up 3-0 and never looked back.
The two hugged after the game was done and then went to the net to congratulate their rivals. Although they declined to take part in a post-game interview, they received a standing ovation as they left the court.
