Williams sisters reunite their iconic doubles team, losing narrowly but thrilling the New York crowd

Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press

Serena and Venus Williams reunited as a doubles team at the 2026 U.S. Open, thrilling a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium despite narrowly losing a three-set match. The sisters’ return celebrated their enduring legacy and Serena’s message that athletes can pursue their goals at any age.

NEW YORK (AP) — “Welcome to the Williams Show,” read one fan’s sign in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night, as Venus and Serena Williams took the court for their doubles match, a quarter-century after first facing each other in the 2001 U.S. Open final.

A quarter-century of playing pro tennis at a top level — at any level — is not a very common thing. And even more incredibly, the Williams sisters, now ages 46 and 44, showed they can still come agonizingly close to beating a top team that is cumulatively around half their age. In a three-set thriller that delighted a packed and vocal evening crowd, the sisters fell short only at the end, blowing a 5-0 lead in the final 10-point tiebreak to lose to Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Maya Joint of Australia, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7).

So it was indeed quite a thrilling show — even the sisters themselves, narrowly defeated, walked off with smiles on their faces, though they declined to speak to the media afterward.

“It was an amazing match,” Joint said. “They played really well, and I think just the atmosphere on the court … I don’t think either of us has experienced quite like that before. And playing two legends of the game is just a super special moment that we might not get again.”

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