Serena and Venus Williams return to doubles and lose close match in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI (AP) — Serena and Venus Williams returned to doubles play together for the first time since the 2022 U.S. Open, but lost a close match on Monday night at the Cincinnati Open. The sisters, both 46, fell 2-6, 6-1 (10-8) to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns. Kostyuk and Stearns, both 24, were playing their first tournament together, with Stearns hailing from Cincinnati and Kostyuk from Ukraine.

After losing the first set, the Williams sisters fought back in the second, forcing a match tiebreak. Kostyuk and Stearns took an early lead, but the Williamses closed the gap to 8-7. Venus double-faulted to hand the Williamses a slim 9-8 lead, but Kostyuk sealed the victory with two more errors. Serena and Venus have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and 22 total, while Serena has claimed one doubles title outside of Grand Slams with Alexandra Stevenson in 2002.