NEW YORK -- "Welcome to the Williams Show," read one fan's sign in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night, as Venus and Serena Williams took the court for their doubles match, a quarter-century after first facing each other in the 2001 US Open final.
A quarter-century of playing pro tennis at a top level -- at any level -- is not a very common thing. And even more incredibly, the Williams sisters, now ages 46 and 44, showed they can still come agonizingly close to beating a top team that is cumulatively around half their age.
In a three-set thriller that delighted a packed and vocal evening crowd, the sisters fell short only at the end, blowing a 5-0 lead in the final 10-point tiebreak to lose to Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Maya Joint of Australia, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7).
So it was indeed quite a thrilling show -- even the sisters themselves, narrowly defeated, walked off with smiles on their faces, though they declined to speak to the media afterward.
Joint & Chan def. Williams Sisters 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (7)
• Serena/Venus Williams: First appearance in doubles together at a major since 2022 US Open | were supposed to play together in Serena's return at Wimbledon this year but Serena pulled out after suffering a knee injury in singles against Maya Joint • Sisters led the third-set tiebreak 5-0 before dropping 10 of the next 12 points • Their second major doubles match to go to a deciding-set tiebreak (2009 French Open Round 3, lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands & Nadia Petrova) • Fall to 31-3 in the first round of majors as doubles partners • Match lasted 3 hours and 2 minutes • Maya Joint & Hao-Ching Chan advance to face Nicole Fossa Huergo & Tamara Korpatsch in Round 2 on Sunday
-- ESPN Research
"It was an amazing match," Joint said. "They played really well, and I think just the atmosphere on the court... I don't think either of us has experienced quite like that before. And playing two legends of the game is just a super special moment that we might not get again."
The hugely entertaining evening came four years after the sisters last played doubles together at Flushing Meadows in 2022, also losing in the first round. It appeared that was their last time together, with Serena stepping away from tennis that year after winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
She came back this summer, falling to Joint in three sets at Wimbledon in her return to singles play. She and Venus then had to pull out of their doubles match after Serena hurt her knee.