Serena and Venus Williams were pushed to the limit by Maya Joint and Chan Hao-Ching in a US Open women’s doubles first-round epic.
In a fight to the finish, the Williams sisters rallied to force a third-set tie-breaker, blowing a 5-0 lead before falling to Joint and Chan 6-3 6-7 (8-6) 7-6 (10-7) in three hours and two minutes.
The legendary sisters were playing their first Grand Slam together since the 2022 US Open and were bidding for their first win as a team since the second round of the 2018 French Open.
It was quite a summer for Joint, who defeated Serena on Centre Court at Wimbledon in the women’s singles before facing her again on Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of another packed house.
Greek star secures first-ever fourth-round appearance
Revitalized Stefanos Tsitsipas bounced back from a first-set loss to prevail over Czech 18th seed Jiri Lehecka 2-6 6-1 7-6 (7-3) 6-1.
The Greek star moved into the fourth round for the first time in his career.
American 11th seed Frances Tiafoe eased past Valentin Vacherot of Monaco 6-4 6-2 6-4.
