Williams sisters choke in tennis reunion as Aussie stars in epic fightback
Aussie young gun Maya Joint repeated her Wimbledon heroics as she led a stunning comeback to end the Williams sisters’ US Open doubles reunion in the first round.
Given the night session on Flushing Meadows’ Arthur Ashe Stadium – a rarity for any first-round doubles match – Joint and playing partner Hao-Ching Chan of Taipei dug themselves out of a 5-0 hole in a 10-point third-set tiebreaker to snatch victory.
Venus and Serena Williams’ doubles reunion ended with a first-round loss to Hao-Ching Chan and Aussie Maya Joint. AP Photo/Adam Hunger
Having won the first set, Venus and Serena fought back to clinch the second.
The Americans then found themselves down a break at 4-1 in the third before rallying to force a tiebreaker.
They raced to a 5-0 lead before Joint and Chan went on an epic run to win 10 of the next 12 points and clinch victory 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(10-7).
It’s the second time this year Joint has eliminated Serena from a tournament, having also done so in the first round at Wimbledon.
This was the first US Open match the sisters had played together since 2022. They had previously claimed the doubles title together twice.
Serena came back to tennis this year at 44. Venus has continued to play on tour at 46.
Perhaps it was their ages, could have been Serena's long layoff, or maybe it was nerves. But both double-faulted during the tiebreaker after they had played so brilliantly late in the third set and then in the first few points of the tiebreaker.
Serena injured her knee in the Wimbledon loss to Joint, which forced the sisters to pull out of doubles the next day and delay their reunion until their home US Open. They won the tournament in 1999 and 2009.
Joint’s win over Serena at Wimbledon was also on centre court.
The American-born Joint said she was “lost for words” to think she had played both her idols on two of the biggest courts in world tennis.
“They’re idols of mine – I looked up to them growing up in Michigan,” she said in the courtside interview.
“Just to be able to play them twice is amazing.”
The match preceded the third-round men’s singles match between American No.8 seed Ben Shelton and Canadian Dennis Shapovalov, which did not get on court until about 10.30pm local.
Joint and playing partner Hao-Ching Chan wave to the crowd after beating the Williams sisters. Getty Images
The Williams sisters were once an almost unstoppable force in women's doubles. They won 14 grand slam titles together, as well as Olympic golds in 2000, 2008 and 2012. Serena missed the 2004 Athens Games.
Joint and Chan will next face Argentine Nicole Fossa Huergo and German Tamara Korpatsch.
- With AP
