FILE - 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams and sister Venus will begin another chapter in their storied US Open partnership.
Image: AFP
Sisters Serena and Venus Williams will begin another chapter in their storied US Open partnership against 14th seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Maya Joint, with the draw setting up an immediate challenge for the two-time champions at Flushing Meadows.
The Williams sisters return to Grand Slam doubles competition together for the first time since the 2022 US Open. Their partnership at the tournament stretches back nearly three decades, beginning with their first appearance in 1997 and later producing title-winning campaigns in 1999 and 2009.
Those two triumphs form part of an extraordinary record of 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles won together. However, Serena and Venus are still searching for their first victory as a team since their run at Roland Garros in 2018.
Their most recent appearance together came in Cincinnati three weeks ago, where they were beaten in a deciding match tie-break by Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.
The pair will now attempt to translate their return to the court into a winning run at the major where they have enjoyed some of their most memorable doubles moments. Their opening opponents arrive with considerable momentum.
Chan and Australian Maya Joint have only recently joined forces but have already made an impact, reaching the final in Memphis, the second round in Toronto and the quarter-finals in Cincinnati. Joint also carries recent history against Serena into the contest.
The Australian defeated the former World No. 1 in Serena’s only singles match of her comeback so far, prevailing in three sets in the opening round at Wimbledon. Chan, meanwhile, has previously defeated the Williams sisters as a partnership.
Playing alongside Liezel Huber, the Chinese Taipei player beat Serena and Venus in the opening round in Beijing in 2013. Serena later earned a measure of revenge in 2022 when she partnered Ons Jabeur to defeat Chan and Shuko Aoyama at Eastbourne.
The winners of the first-round encounter will move on to face either Nicole Fossa Huergo and Tamara Korpatsch or Jesika Maleckova and Miriam Skoch. A potential third-round meeting with fourth seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko could await.
Elsewhere in the draw, top seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend will launch their campaign against American wild cards Reese Brantmeier and Savannah Broadus as they chase their first US Open title together.
Siniakova previously won the New York doubles crown alongside Barbora Krejcikova in 2022, while Townsend has experienced heartbreak in two previous finals. She finished runner-up with Caty McNally in 2022 and again last year alongside Siniakova. The defending champions will not be reunited this season.
Gabriela Dabrowski has joined Luisa Stefani, with the second seeds scheduled to face Anastasia Detiuc and Irina Khromacheva in their opener. Erin Routliffe, meanwhile, has partnered Aldila Sutjiadi, and the ninth seeds will take on Ann Li and Clara Tauson.
Another intriguing first-round contest will feature former champion Sara Errani alongside 18-year-old Lilli Tagger against 16-year-old American twins Annika and Kristina Penickova.
Errani and Tagger, competing together at their second major of the season after reaching the second round at Roland Garros, could potentially meet Dabrowski and Stefani in the following round.
But much of the early attention will inevitably fall on the Williams sisters, whose return to the US Open doubles draw brings one of tennis’ most celebrated partnerships back to the stage where their journey together began.
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