Serena and Venus Williams knocked out of doubles’ play by Czech duo at US Open
Serena Williams and Venus Williams were knocked out of competing in doubles for the first time at the U.S. Open, following two days of action between Novak Djokovic and Jiri Vesely on Thursday.
As Djokovic and Vesely competed in the opening round of their 10-player mixed doubles, Serena Williams and Venus Williams were down 6-1, 3-4, 6-3 in the third set before eventually going up 14-6 in the fourth and being knocked out.
And, while Vesely and Djokovic played out the rest of the match without incident, Serena and Venus were playing what was possibly their final mixed doubles match together at a major.
Serena and Venus Williams were given a standing ovation after their defeat, and Vesely and Djokovic were not so gracious.
“I’m very sorry to lose in a mixed doubles match,” Vesely said to the camera after the match.
And, even more so after the match, that this may have been the last time the Williams sisters played together.
Serena Williams has been on and off the tour since joining at the end of 2012, and she hasn’t appeared on the top 10 in singles since the U.S. Open last August. Yet, she continued to be a top-10 player, as she took part in a number of events last year, including the Australian Open, the French Open, the Wimbledon Championships, the U.S. Open and the Olympic Games.
In her first match, Serena Williams, who entered the competition ranked No.3 in singles, lost in three sets to the fourth-seed Ana Ivanovic. She lost in the third round of the Australian Open to the top-seed Victoria Azarenka, then ended a two-year drought by making the third round of the Wimbledon Championships. She lost to eventual finalist Caroline Wozniacki in a third-round match in Paris.
She won her first career title at the