Serena and Venus Williams’ doubles return was stopped at the first obstacle as the wildcards lost to Czechs Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in the opening round of the US Open, 7-6(5) 6-4.
Playing together for the first time since Roland Garros 2018, the Williamses failed to convert two set points on their opponents’ serve at 5-4 and eventually lost the tightly-contested 72-minute first set in a tiebreak. Hradecka and Noskova opened the second set with a 3-0 lead and even though the Williamses won three of the next four games, the Czechs broke serve again on their second match point.