Serena and Venus Williams lose in a match tiebreaker in their return to the US Open

NEW YORK (AP) — Serena and Venus Williams are out of the U.S. Open women’s doubles after losing in a match tiebreaker.

The sisters blew a 5-0 lead in the 10-point tiebreaker and lost 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7) on Friday night to Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint.

It was the first U.S. Open match since 2022 at the Grand Slam tournament the sisters won twice. They pulled out the second set in a tiebreaker, battled back from 4-1 down in the third set to tie it, but then faltered late.

Serena came back to tennis this year at 44. Venus has continued to play on tour at 46.

Perhaps it was their ages, could have been Serena’s long layoff, or maybe it was nerves. But both double-faulted during the tiebreaker after they had played so brilliantly late in the third set and then in the first few points of the tiebreaker.

Serena ended up losing to Joint for the second time this summer. She fell to the Australian in three sets at Wimbledon in her return to singles play, and she and Venus then had to pull out of their doubles match after Serena hurt her knee.

That delayed their return to the Grand Slam stage until New York, where they won in 1999 and 2009 and are now 27-8 in their 10 appearances.

The match got a spot in the night session in Arthur Ashe Stadium — practically unheard of for first-round doubles.

The sisters were once dominant in women’s doubles, teaming to win 14 Grand Slam titles along with Olympic gold medals in 2000, 2008 and 2012. They shared the No. 1 ranking in women’s doubles for eight weeks.

It appeared a first-round loss in 2022 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 and now has two heartbreaking defeats with her older sister. They also lost in a match tiebreaker at the Cincinnati Open.

Venus Williams also lost in the first round of singles.

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Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press