Serena and Venus Williams Leave US Open Without Speaking to Press After Doubles Loss

Losing after playing a three-hour match while squandering a 5-0 lead in the match tiebreaker will be a tough pill to swallow for any player, even more so for the duo of Serena and Venus Williams, who were making their much-awaited Grand Slam doubles comeback, as Serena came back from her retirement in June. A message shared by a tennis insider showed how much the loss might have hurt the Williams duo.

“From the U.S. Open: “Serena and Venus Williams will not be available for press tonight,” said Ben Rothenberg on X. “Deeply unsurprising.”

The Williams sisters had played only one doubles match before their US Open comeback, as they had an opening-round exit at the Cincinnati Open. The lack of coordination was evident in the first stages of the opening set on Arthur Ashe, as the fourteenth-seeded pair of Joint and Chan got off to a quick start, taking a 3-1 lead.

However, by then the Williams sisters got some of their groove back, as they broke serve to make it 3-3. Despite the comeback, it was the team of Joint and Chang who won the next three games to take the opening set. The American team saved four break points in the second set to remain on serve, but could not convert on the two set points on the opponent’s serve at 5-4 in the set.

The Williams sisters kept coming back in the match, getting another two set points in the tiebreak. However, they failed to capitalize, with Serena making a double fault in one of those pressure situations. The third set point in the tiebreaker proved to be the charm, as the iconic duo finally clinched the second set to take the match into a third.

The momentum seemed to be on the Williams’ side as they had break points in the third game, but once again, they faltered under pressure. However, this is when the match seemed to shift, with the team of Joint and Chan taking a strong 4-1 lead in the set, and the match looked to be heading towards its conclusion, or so it seemed.

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