Serena and Venus Williams once again drew huge attention at the US Open, with even Carlos Alcaraz eager to watch the sisters compete.
After completing his own match, the defending men's champion said he planned to watch the Williams sisters' doubles comeback while receiving treatment.
The sisters produced an entertaining battle, recovering from a difficult position to force a deciding 10 point tiebreak. However, they could not hold on after taking a 5 0 advantage and eventually lost 3 6, 7 6 (6), 7 6 (10 7) to Hao Ching Chan and Maya Joint on Friday night.
The contest marked Serena and Venus Williams' first US Open appearance since 2022. The tournament is especially significant for the sisters, who have won the event's doubles title twice. They fought back from 4 1 behind in the deciding set to level the score, but were unable to finish the comeback.
Serena returned to competitive tennis this year at age 44, while 46 year old Venus has remained active on the professional circuit.
The sisters struggled during the deciding tiebreak, with both committing double faults after playing strongly during the closing stages of the third set and the opening points of the breaker. The U.S. Tennis Association said the players would not be speaking to the media.
The defeat also marked Serena's second loss to Maya Joint this summer. Joint had previously beaten her in three sets at Wimbledon when Serena returned to singles competition. Serena and Venus later withdrew from their doubles match at Wimbledon after Serena experienced a knee problem.
Their return to Grand Slam doubles action was therefore delayed until New York. The sisters previously won the US Open doubles championship in 1999 and 2009 and have now recorded 27 wins in 10 appearances at the tournament.
Their first round doubles match was placed in the prestigious night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium, an unusual decision for an opening round doubles contest.
Serena and Venus were among the most successful doubles partnerships in tennis history, collecting 14 Grand Slam titles together and Olympic gold medals in 2000, 2008 and 2012. They also jointly held the No. 1 doubles ranking for eight weeks.
Their first round defeat in 2022 had appeared to be their final match as a doubles team, especially after Serena stepped away from tennis that year following a career featuring 23 Grand Slam singles championships. Her return this summer has now resulted in two difficult doubles defeats alongside Venus, with another match tiebreak loss coming at the Cincinnati Open.
Venus Williams was also eliminated during the opening round of the singles tournament.
Elsewhere, Carlos Alcaraz moved through his match comfortably, while two time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka faced a much tougher challenge from both her opponent and the smell of marijuana during her victory.