Williams sisters lose 2-6, 6-1, 8-10 in Cincinnati doubles return to Kostyuk and Stearns
Serena and Venus Williams lost 2-6, 6-1, 8-10 to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns in a doubles match at the Cincinnati Open on Monday night. It was the sisters' first doubles match since the 2022 US Open and their first appearance together in a non-Grand Slam event since the 2016 Italian Open.
The pairing brought a notable legacy to the court: together they have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, 22 total team titles and three Olympic gold medals, while Serena has 23 Grand Slam singles titles and Venus seven. The match drew a strong crowd and was played under wild-card entry for the Williamses.
The Williams sisters began slowly, dropping the opening set 2-6 before responding emphatically in the second set, which they won 6-1 to force a deciding match tie-break. The deciding tie-break extended into a tense series of momentum swings after regulation sets concluded.
Kostyuk and Stearns surged to a 6-0 lead in the tie-break, but the Williamses fought back, capitalising on consecutive double faults from Kostyuk to narrow the margin to 8-7. Serena produced a powerful overhead smash to save a match point at 9-8 and momentarily shifted the momentum, but the final point ended when Venus double-faulted.
After the match Serena said: "I thought it was fun," Serena, 44, said following her summer tour return. "I thought it was special. We kicked off a little rust in the middle of the match and just, you know, were starting to feel it. I didn't come out here to win this tournament. Winning is obviously great. But in this position, just having fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again." "Eventually we would find our way to each other," added the 46-year-old Venus. "It's our first time playing together in forever. It was great for us to get out there and do it."
Stearns, a Mason native, and Kostyuk are a newly formed pairing and are both 24 years old; they negotiated a strongly pro-Williams crowd in Stearns' hometown. "I kind of expected it, but it stung a little bit that this is my hometown," Stearns said about the crowd. "I won't hold it against anyone. The crowd was going for them, but we used it to our advantage and flipped the script." Kostyuk added: "The crowd got the show. They probably couldn't ask for anything better. At the end, a tie-break is a lottery. You never know which way it's going to go."
Elsewhere at the Cincinnati Open on Monday, defending champion Iga Swiatek rallied from a set down to beat Maria Sakkari 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 for her eighth consecutive match win; No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina defeated Magdalena Frech 6-4, 7-6; third-ranked Jessica Pegula beat Emma Navarro 7-5, 6-2. On the men's side, World No. 3 and top seed Alexander Zverev beat Terence Atmane 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6).
Swiatek's victory extended her run to eight straight wins, while Zverev's win brought his total to an ATP Tour-leading 46 match victories this season.