New York: Serena Williams and Venus Williams fell short on the scoreboard, dropping a 7-6(5), 6-4 decision against the Czech team of Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night.
In what is likely their Grand Slam swansong as a doubles pair, the Williams sisters were on the wrong side of a tight opening set despite having two set points on return at 5-4 and later leading the tiebreak, 5-3.
In set two, the Americans recovered an early break to dig out of a 4-1 hole, but the Czechs earned a second break of the match to close out the victory.
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The Williams sisters were making their first US Open appearance as a doubles team since 2014, and playing their first Grand Slam doubles match together since Roland Garros in 2018.
The first of their 14 major doubles crowns came at Roland Garros and the US Open in 1999. They also won the New York title in 2009 and now own a 25-7 record at their home Slam following their ninth appearance.After the match, Noskova and Hradecka were full of praise for their illustrious opponents.
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"Playing against the Williams sisters is a special moment for everybody, any time," said the 17-year-old Noskova to the official website of US Open.
"I was really lucky that I could pair with my doubles partner and we could win and put up a good fight."Added Hradecka: “We played (each other) for the first time. I think we did a very good job," she told the Ashe crowd. "I’m so sorry for you that we beat them, but we are so happy that we did it!” (UNI)
