It had been four years since Serena and Venus Williams played together in the U.S. Open.
asserted
Williams → play → Open
The sisters crammed years’ worth of peak drama into Friday’s family reunion in Flushing.
asserted
sisters → cram → Flushing
The Williams sisters lost their first-round doubles match, but in the end the scoreline is just numbers.
asserted
scoreline → lose → end
They gave 24,000 fans that packed Arthur Ashe Stadium — and frankly, the tennis world at large — moments and memories they won’t forget.
asserted
they → give → moments
With Serena making her comeback after a four-year layoff — she dislikes the word “retirement” — the sisters fell 3-6, 7-6 (6), 6-7 (7) to Maya Joint and Hao-Ching Chan.
asserted
sisters → make → Joint
It was a back-and-forth affair that had all the entertainment one would expect.
asserted
one → have → entertainment
The Williams sisters trailed 4-1 in the third set before they stormed back.
asserted
they → trail → set
And they reeled off nine straight points to go up 5-0 in the tiebreak.
asserted
they → reel → tiebreak
But in the end, they ran out of steam.
asserted
they → run → steam
They dropped 10 of the last 12 points in the tiebreak.
asserted
They → drop → tiebreak
Chan, an in-form doubles player, came up big at the net to help steal the victory.
asserted
Chan → come → victory
That was never going to happen, especially with Serena making her return.
asserted
Serena → go → return
“Being able to play against such legends of the game is super special,” Joint said in an on-court TV interview.
asserted
Joint → play → interview
The Williams sisters declined interview requests.
asserted
sisters → decline → requests
Though Venus has been playing singles — more on that later — Serena had stepped away to be a mother.
asserted
Serena → play → that
The sisters hadn’t played together in Flushing Meadows since 2022, when they fell in the first round in what was largely believed to be Serena’s swan song here.
asserted
what → play → round
Just weeks earlier, she had written an essay in Vogue in which she said she was “evolving away from tennis.”
asserted
she → write → tennis
But she was clear in pointing out her distaste for the word “retirement.”
asserted
she → point → retirement
And thanks to prodding from 9-year-old daughter Olympia, that layoff may have been more of a break.
uncertain
layoff → prod → break
“You need to play with Auntie VeVe,” Serena, 44, recalled of her daughter’s mandate this week on ABC’s Good Morning America.
asserted
Serena → need → America
“She said it so clear and so calm.
asserted
She → say → it
She’s like my mom, she doesn’t really talk a lot, but when she does talk, you listen.
asserted
you → ’ → lot
So Serena has returned, but so far has been largely foiled by Joint.
asserted
Serena → return → Joint
Serena lost to Joint, the 20-year-old Australian, a foe less than half her age, at Wimbledon.
asserted
Serena → lose → Wimbledon
She injured her knee in that defeat and had to pull out of a planned doubles match with Venus, 46, at the All England Club.
asserted
She → injure → Club
Their reunion was just a dream deferred, not altogether dashed.
asserted
reunion → defer → ?
The Williams sisters returned as a doubles team last month in Cincinnati.
asserted
sisters → return → Cincinnati
And Friday they took the court together in the U.S. Open.
asserted
they → take → Open
They were beaten, but just barely.
asserted
They → beat → ?
Venus got knocked out of the singles draw in the wee hours Monday morning, playing until past 2 a.m.
She has lost six straight at the U.S. Open and 15 in a row overall since her last win in Washington in July 2025.
asserted
She → knock → July
It prompted some to complain about her receiving a wild card, although organizers say they never had a second thought.
asserted
they → prompt → thought
Serena, arguably the best server in history, struggled and was broken twice in the first set as they lost 6-3.
asserted
they → struggle → set
But the Williams settled in during the second set, as Serena took something off her fastball and started to serve better.
asserted
Serena → settle → fastball
They won the tiebreaker to force a third set.
asserted
They → win → set
The siblings trailed 4-1 in the third, but rallied as Joint’s nerves started to fray.
asserted
nerves → trail → third
Serena attacked like a shark smelling blood, and they rallied to force a tiebreaker.
asserted
they → attack → tiebreaker
They actually took nine straight points and looked to be in control, up 5-0 in the tiebreak, before they lost 10 of the final dozen points.
asserted
they → take → points
Joint and Chan won the match, but not the moment, as the Williams sisters walked off smiling and waving to cheers from the crowd, thanking them for the latest in a long line of memories.
asserted
sisters → win → memories
The Aporia
