Serena, Venus Williams Talk Return to Doubles After Loss in 1st Appearance Together Since 2022

Despite coming out on the losing end, Serena and Venus Williams enjoyed their first doubles match back together Monday in the Cincinnati Open.

The Williams sisters lost in three sets, 2-6, 6-1, [8-10] to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns. It was the first time since the 2022 U.S. Open they teamed up in doubles.

"I thought it was fun, I thought it was special, I thought it was good," Serena told reporters after the match. "We kicked off a little rust in the middle of the match. We were starting to feel it, and it was really fun. It was really cool to be able to do this again."

She and Venus emphasized they were focused less on the result and more on finding their comfort zone again.

"Winning is obviously great, but I think in this position — I didn't come out here to win this tournament," Serena said. "I wanted to do the best I could do, but I think having fun, seeing how we are, how we feel out there, being out there with the fans too is just really good to give them another opportunity. It's just really cool."

Venus echoed that sentiment.

"I think we give each other so much grace and encouragement," she said. "This is our first time playing together in forever, and I think we're really getting our stride for sure so that was great for us to get out there and do it."

Serena and Venus are 44 and 46, respectively, so they're far removed from their peak playing years. In addition, the former only returned to competitive tennis in June after having retired in 2022.

Expectations for the Williams sisters are realistic. The tandem is unlikely to add a 15th Grand Slam title.

That doesn't dampen the enthusiasm of fans who thought they'd never see Serena and Venus on the same side of the court. The two stars seem to have a similar perspective.