Serena and Venus Williams are set to play at the U.S. Open in New York, marking their first joint appearance in four years. Scheduled for Friday night, they will compete against the team of Maya Joint, who recently defeated Serena at Wimbledon, and Hao-Ching Chan in the opening round of the women’s doubles tournament.
Serena, now 44, made a comeback to tennis this year after a four-year hiatus. Her return was challenging as she lost to the 20-year-old Australian Maya Joint, with scores of 6-3, 6-7 (6), and 6-3. During the match, she sustained a knee injury, preventing her from continuing in the planned doubles match at Wimbledon with her sister Venus, aged 46.
The Williams sisters, who celebrated doubles titles at the U.S. Open in 1999 and 2009, hold a 27-7 record in their nine past appearances. Their last match together at this tournament occurred in 2022, ending in a first-round loss, which was considered Serena’s potential final appearance at Flushing Meadows.
Facing them, Joint and Chan are ranked as the No. 14-seeded team. Bethanie Mattek-Sands, a nine-time Grand Slam doubles champion, expressed that Joint and Chan might feel some nerves competing against the Williams sisters, especially with the energetic New York crowd.
“The night match against the Williams sisters with the New York crowd, it’s going to be tough,” stated Mattek-Sands to CBS News.
Earlier this week, Venus exited her 26th singles event at Flushing Meadows. She lost in straight sets to American wild card Sofia Kenin, with the match ending 6-2, 7-6 (6). This defeat marked her 15th consecutive singles loss since her last victory in July 2025 in Washington. Moreover, Venus has now faced six consecutive losses at the U.S. Open since her first-round win in 2019.
When questioned about her future in tennis, Venus remained focused on the present, stating she was concentrating on her recovery from the match. She told reporters, “I don’t think I should have to decide now. My mind is fully focused on how I recover from this completely insane evening and get ready for the next one.”
Last week, Serena, paired with Carlos Alcaraz, was ousted from the mixed doubles quarterfinals by Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, with set scores of 5-4 (4) and 4-1, after winning their debut match together.