Williams Sisters to Compete in U.S. Open Doubles After Four-Year Hiatus

Serena and Venus Williams will compete together at the U.S. Open in New York for the first time in four years on Friday night. The Williams sisters are set to face Maya Joint, who defeated Serena at Wimbledon this summer, and Hao-Ching Chan in the first round of the women’s doubles tournament.

Serena, 44, returned to the sport this year after a four-year hiatus, suffering a loss to Joint, a 20-year-old Australian, with scores of 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3. During this match, Serena injured her knee, forcing her to withdraw from a planned doubles event at the All England Club with Venus, 46.

Now, they are poised to compete at the U.S. Open, a tournament where they won the doubles title in 1999 and 2009. In their nine appearances, they have a record of 27-7. Their last joint appearance at the tournament was in 2022, where they lost in the first round, which was expected to be Serena’s final match at Flushing Meadows.

On August 17, 2026, Serena and Venus were seen walking off the court after a loss at the Cincinnati Open. Joint and Chan, currently the No. 14-seeded team, will be their opponents at the U.S. Open.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion, believes Joint and Chan might find the Williams sisters intimidating due to the atmosphere of playing a night match in New York. “The night match against the Williams sisters with the New York crowd, it’s going to be tough,” Mattek-Sands told CBS News.

Recently, Venus ended her 26th singles appearance at Flushing Meadows, losing to American wild card Sofia Kenin in straight sets. The match, which did not start until midnight, concluded with scores of 6-2, 7-6 (6). This loss marked Venus’s potential final singles Grand Slam match and extended her singles defeat streak to 15, since her last win in Washington in July 2025.

Venus’s record at the U.S. Open now includes six consecutive losses since her first-round victory in 2019. Despite this outcome, Venus remains focused on recovery and preparation for future matches, stating she isn’t contemplating her tennis future yet. “I don’t think I should have to,” she mentioned to reporters. “My mind is fully focused on that: how I recover from this completely insane evening and get ready for the next one.”

Last week, Serena and Carlos Alcaraz exited the mixed doubles quarterfinals after a loss to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, with scores of 5-4 (4), 4-1. This followed their winning debut as a team.