Serena and Venus Williams return, lose close doubles in Cincinnati

Serena Williams, left, first bumps Venus Williams, right, both of the United States, during a women’s doubles match against Marta Kostyuk, of Ukraine, and Peyton Stearns, also of the United States, at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Mason, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

MASON, Ohio — Serena and Venus Williams played their first doubles match together since the 2022 US Open and lost a thriller, 2-6, 6-1 (10-8) to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns on Monday night at the Cincinnati Open.

The sisters nearly recovered from a 6-0 deficit in the match tiebreaker before a double-fault by Venus Williams ended their first doubles appearance in a non-Grand Slam event since the Italian Open in 2016.

“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.”

READ: Serena Williams pulls out of Wimbledon doubles with knee injury

Matching Kits on Top 💙

Marta Kostyuk & Peyton Stearns take the first set against the Williams Sisters.#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/svaRC6hXdj

— wta (@WTA) August 18, 2026

Serena had been off the tour since 2022 before returning this summer at age 44. The sisters planned to play together at Wimbledon but had to withdraw after Serena injured her knee while losing her singles match. They entered Cincinnati as a wild card.

“Eventually we would find our way to each other,” the 46-year-old Venus said about the decision to play doubles again. “It’s our first time playing together in forever. It was great for us to get out there and do it.”

Kostyuk and Stearns, both 24, are playing in their first tournament together. Kostyuk is from Ukraine. Stearns grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of Mason, where the tournament is played every year.

“I kind of expected it but it stung a little bit that this is my hometown,” Stearns said about the pro-Williams sisters 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.”

READ: Alex Eala, Venus Williams ousted in Canadian Open doubles

Peyton Stearns, of the United States, left, first bumps Marta Kostyuk, of Ukraine, right, during a women’s doubles match against Serena Williams and Venus Williams, also of the United States, at the Cincinnati Open tennis tournament, Monday, Aug. 17, 2026, in Mason, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)

After dropping the first set, the Williams sisters rolled in the second to force a match tiebreak.

Kostyuk and Stearns went ahead 6-0, but consecutive double-faults by Kostyuk helped the Williamses get within 8-7. It was 9-8 after Serena powerfully put away an overhead before Venus double-faulted.

“The crowd got the show,” Kostyuk said. “They probably couldn’t ask for anything better. At the end a tiebreak is a lottery. You never know which way it’s going to go.”

Venus and Serena have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and 22 total. Serena won one with Alexandra Stevenson in 2002 at Leipzig. All of Venus’ doubles titles have been with her sister. They also have won three Olympic gold medals together.

Serena has won 23 singles Grand Slam titles. Venus has won seven.