One game into the family reunion of the decade, Venus Williams launched herself inside the baseline in her single-minded pursuit of a puffball second serve. For a brief moment the Cincinnati Open was transported back 15 years. Williams pounded her forehand return directly at the right hip of her opponent Marta Kostyuk, instantly eliciting gasps from the audience as she snatched the point. Back when the Williams sisters spent their spare time racking up grand slam titles for fun, this was how they dealt with most adversaries.
In the end, Venus and Serena’s first doubles match together in four years, and only their second in the past decade, ended in a rollercoaster 6-2, 1-6, 10-8 defeat to Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns, another wildcard pair and two formidable singles players. For once, the result did not seem to matter.
“Winning is obviously great,” said Serena. “But I think in this position, [we’re] just having fun. I didn’t come out here to win this tournament. Obviously, I wanted to do the best I could do, but I think having fun and also just seeing how we are and how we feel out there. Being out there with the fans, too, is just really good, just to give them another opportunity to see us play, which is really cool.”
Even before she made the familiar trip to Mason, Ohio, Serena’s presence had been felt this year. For two days during the first round, a plane circled above the tournament grounds carrying an advertisement banner featuring Serena endorsing Ro, a telehealth company that provides patients with access to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
This match also quietly underlined how dysfunctional professional tennis can be. Despite the massive anticipation surrounding the return of the Williams sisters – almost certainly the last time this audience will get to see them – the rigid nature of television contracts meant the match was relegated to Grandstand Court, the tournament’s 5,000-seat second stadium. Every seat was taken, with fans streaming out of the entrances and crowding the winding staircase from the adjoining Center Court, which holds 11,600, to catch a glimpse of two American greats.
For all the goodwill, excitement and anticipation at the simple joy of seeing them together again, early on the spectacle itself was rough. After Venus held in the opening game, they conceded five consecutive games to trail 1-5. Serena’s lack of matchplay was the most obvious issue, with the younger sister struggling to find hertiming on her groundstrokes or rhythm on her usually immaculate serve.
As Serena’s rust gradually fell away, Venus was largely solid, pairing crisp shotmaking with elite reflex volleys. By the start of set two, everything was flowing. They rolled through the set and into a match tie‑break. Down 2-8, they nearly pulled off an outlandish comeback before a double fault from Venus at 8-9 ended their hopes.
Serena had not competed since her return to singles competition at Wimbledon last month, where she sustained a knee injury in her three-set loss to Maya Joint, forcing her to withdraw from her planned doubles match with Venus. “That was a little traumatic experience for me,” Serena said, smiling. “It took me two hours to leave the locker room that night and it’s been a long recovery, which is something I never thought I’d say because I never thought I’d be here sitting and talking to you all again. But, you know, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
In her Instagram post after the loss, which included photos of vials she had used to collect the fluid from her knee, Serena said her followers would see her soon on a court near them, and here she made good on that. The US Open will follow for both sisters, but it is unclear whether they will take to the court in singles or doubles. “I’ve never really enjoyed the process, but I think this time I’m enjoying the process a little bit more than I ever have,” said Serena. “It’s kind of just having a different view of it. And it’s also like this isn’t for ever. This is like not long. So it’s also just fun to know that too. And like I’m not playing every week. I’m not showing up every week and have kids. So it’s a little bit different.”
Serena’s comeback, which has mainly been confined to the doubles court so far, has served as a reminder of the greatness of the Williams sisters’ doubles careers, achievements that are usually hidden behind their all-time great singles results. This is also one of the greatest doubles teams in history. They have won 14 grand slam titles together – winning every one of their grand slam finals – which places them joint-second in the open era among women’s doubles teams, behind Martina Navratilova and Pam Shriver. They also reached world No 1 and won three Olympic gold medals.
Their partnership began in the 1990s, yet still it endures. “I think we waited a long time to get back on the doubles court, even this year,” said Venus. “I think eventually we would find our way to each other.”
