Williams Sisters Fall in US Open Doubles

Serena and Venus Williams lost 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7) to Chan Hao-ching and Maya Joint on Friday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, blowing a 5-0 lead in the match tiebreak after nearly three hours, per the WTA and NBC News.

It was their first US Open doubles match together since 2022. The night had every chance to turn into a homecoming win. The super tiebreak flipped the other way.

Comeback, then the collapse

Chan and Joint took the first set cleanly. The Williams sisters forced a second-set tiebreak, saved multiple set points, and finally converted when Joint sailed a forehand long. In the third they trailed 4-1, then clawed back to force the 10-point match tiebreak. They jumped to 5-0. Consecutive nets and a Venus double fault invited the comeback. Chan closed it with a volley winner at 9-7, per the WTA.

That 5-0 lead vanishing is the clip New York will remember. Fourteen Grand Slam doubles titles as a team could not cash the finish line.

Ashe noise, Joint history

Joint beat Serena in singles at Wimbledon earlier this summer. Facing both sisters in a packed Ashe night session was a different kind of pressure. "The atmosphere was surreal," Joint said. "I felt relieved… I was very nervous." Chan said the sisters adjusted after the first set and started going down the line more.

It is also the sisters' second straight super-tiebreak loss since reuniting, after falling to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns in Cincinnati. Chan and Joint next face Tamara Korpatsch and Nicole Fossa Huergo.

For more Flushing board already on Smacktok, see Pegula's comeback win and Sabalenka advancing. Friday night belonged to the sisters' fight and one brutal match-tiebreak fade.