CINCINNATI : Serena and Venus Williams said they enjoyed their return to doubles despite suffering a first-round defeat at the Cincinnati Open on Monday, their first match together since 2022.
The American sisters lost 2-6 6-1 (10-8) to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk and American Peyton Stearns, recovering from 6-0 down in the deciding tiebreak before a double fault by Venus ended their comeback.
“I thought it was fun, I thought it was special, I thought it was good,” Serena, 44, told reporters.
“We kicked off a little rust in the middle of the match. We were starting to feel it, and it was really fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again.”
The Williams sisters have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, including six Wimbledon crowns, as well as three Olympic gold medals.
They last played together at the 2022 U.S. Open, where they lost to Czech pair Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova.
The sisters had been due to reunite in the doubles draw at Wimbledon this year but withdrew after Serena suffered a knee injury during her first-round singles defeat.
They received a wild card for the Cincinnati tournament earlier this month as part of their highly anticipated return to doubles.
“I think we’ve waited a long time to get back on the doubles court, even this year. Eventually, we find our way to each other,” Venus, 46, said.
Venus also competed in the Cincinnati singles draw, losing 6-2 6-2 to Colombia’s Emiliana Arango
