Serena and Venus Williams beaten in thriller on return to doubles action

Serena and Venus Williams suffered a thrilling defeat in their first match together for four years as the sisters reunited at the Cincinnati Open. The pair had been due to compete together at Wimbledon, but were forced to delay their return as a partnership after Serena suffered an injury in her singles defeat to Maya Joint. Having been given a wildcard into the Cincinnati event, the veterans pushed Peyton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk all the way before going down 2-6 6-1 10-8 – with defeat sealed by a double fault by Venus while trying to save match point having fought back from 6-0 down in the 10-point tie-break. "I thought it was fun," Serena said. "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, you know, having fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again." The sisters last competed together at the 2022 US Open, which was Serena's last tournament before she "evolved away" from tennis. The 44-year-old came out of an apparent retirement to compete at Wimbledon in July, only to have her comeback curtailed by that knee injury. The duo have 30 grand slam singles titles between them but will require wildcards to play either singles or doubles at Flushing Meadows, with the US Open set to begin on Sunday 30 August. “We've waited a long time to get back on the doubles court. Eventually, we find our way to each other," Venus, 46, said. "We give each other so much grace and encouragement. "This is our first time playing together in forever, and I think we're really getting [into] our stride."