Serena Williams and Venus Williams reunited on court Monday for the first time in nearly four years. The sisters entered the 2026 Cincinnati Open as wildcards but fell to Peyton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk in a first-round doubles match that went the distance.
Venus and Serena Williams Push Match to a Super Tiebreak
Kostyuk and Stearns took the opener 6-2 behind steady baseline pressure. But the Williams sisters answered in the second, breaking serve early and rolling to a 6-1 finish.
Then came the match tiebreak. Down 6-0, Serena and Venus refused to fold, dragging the score back to 8-7 and later 9-8. On the next point, a double fault from Venus ended the comeback.
Williams Sisters Make a Splash at the 2026 Cincinnati Open
For Serena, 44, the loss marked her first doubles pairing with Venus since the 2022 US Open, though both sisters have been chasing singles returns this year. Venus, 46, has taken wildcards into her 2026 events, and Serena followed her back onto tour at Wimbledon last month. She's currently weighing a US Open run.
Despite the loss, Serena kept the mood light.
"We kicked off a little rust in the middle of the match and just, you know [were] starting to feel it," Williams said.
"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."
