The whole Arthur Ashe crowd in New York was all set for some vintage doubles action from Serena and Venus Williams. While they got a three-hour roller-coaster ride of a tennis match, the outcome was not what the home crowd wanted, as the Williams sisters lost their US Open comeback to the team of Maya Joint and Hao-Ching Chan. A message shared by a tennis insider showed how much the loss might have hurt the Williams duo.
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“From the U.S. Open: “Serena and Venus Williams will not be available for press tonight,” said Ben Rothenberg on X. “Deeply unsurprising.”
The Williams sisters had played only one doubles match before their US Open comeback, as they had an opening-round exit at the Cincinnati Open. The lack of coordination was evident in the first stages of the opening set on Arthur Ashe, as the fourteenth-seeded pair of Joint and Chan got off to a quick start, taking a 3-1 lead.
However, by then the Williams sisters got some of their groove back, as they broke serve to make it 3-3. Despite the comeback, it was the team of Joint and Chang who won the next three games to take the opening set. The American team saved four break points in the second set to remain on serve, but could not convert on the two set points on the opponent’s serve at 5-4 in the set.
The Williams sisters kept coming back in the match, getting another two set points in the tiebreak. However, they failed to capitalize, with Serena making a double fault in one of those pressure situations. The third set point in the tiebreaker proved to be the charm, as the iconic duo finally clinched the second set to take the match into a third.
The momentum seemed to be on the Williams’ side as they had break points in the third game, but once again, they faltered under pressure. However, this is when the match seemed to shift, with the team of Joint and Chan taking a strong 4-1 lead in the set, and the match looked to be heading towards its conclusion, or so it seemed.
Serena and Venus were not up for being mere spectators in the final set as their opponents rolled on, as they broke back and squared the match at 4-4. In the ninth game, the duo had three break points that would have allowed them to serve for the match, but, as in many other moments, they failed to capitalize.
With the match going into the deciding ten-point tiebreak, the Williams duo raced to a 5-0 lead, with the Arthur Ashe Stadium rocking. However, Joint and Chan won three points in a row, but a double fault from Joint gave a 6-3 lead to the fourteen-time Major champion duo. Yet again, Serena and Venus failed to rise to the occasion, as they lost the next five points. Having the match on their serve, at 8-7, Chan served it out, handing out an opening-round loss to the crowd favorite.
Losing such a close match would leave no one in the mood for probing questions in the press conference, especially for someone of the profile of Serena or Venus Williams. This is not the first time that Serena has skipped a press conference in her comeback, as she did not attend the mandatory press meet after her singles loss to Joint at Wimbledon, but rather gave out a statement on social media.
This loss ends Serena’s comeback Grand Slam season, with speculation still rife about the American’s next event.
The US Open Doubles Loss Ends Serena Williams’ Grand Slam Season on Her Comeback
When Serena Williams announced her comeback in June, fans were expecting the 23-time singles and 14-time doubles champion to be in action at the Majors. The American legend did not disappoint, playing both singles and doubles during the Grand Slam season.
Williams showed she still had the power in her tennis, and her serve speed was still there in her three-set loss to Joint at Wimbledon. The Australian seemed to be the nemesis for the American in her comeback season, as she handed her a defeat at the US Open as well.
The only joy for Williams in her comeback was her doubles win at Queens with Victoria Mboko against the pair of Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez. However, Mboko’s injury halted the tennis queen’s progress at Queens, and her next two doubles matches with Karolina Muchova and Venus ended in losses at Berlin and Cincinnati.