The Athletic has live coverage of the 2026 U.S. Open. NEW YORK — Serena and Venus Williams, two of the greatest players of the modern era and the greatest pair of tennis siblings, may have finally met their match.It’s the same one that fells all the greats. The passage of time.In front of a crowd that swelled toward 24,000 on Arthur Ashe Stadium, looking for any excuse to explode, Maya Joint of Australia and Chan Hao-ching of Taiwan fended the sisters off just when they threatened to take the roof off.Joint and Chan, the No. 14 seeds in the U.S. Open women’s doubles, fought back from a 5-0 deficit in a 10-point match tiebreak and won 6-3, 6-7(6), 7-6(10-7) in the opening round of the competition.How do fans feel about Serena Williams' comebackLauren Morales-Jones and Johnny SweetFor Joint, it was the second meeting with Williams this summer. She played her at Wimbledon in singles in June. She won that one, too.“It’s awesome that I can say that I’ve beaten her twice,” Joint said in a news conference after the win.Serena and Venus, tennis trailblazers of the highest order, came agonizingly close to turning the star power and anticipation they brought to the year’s final Grand Slam into victory. They still turned it into a magical night, one that everyone who witnessed it will remember, four years on from their last appearance in 2022, which marked Serena’s “evolution away” from the sport.There shouldn’t be any shame in that. The numbers, aside from the ones counting up titles, medals and weeks on the top of the rankings, were against them. They have a combined age of 90, with Venus at 46. Serena is 44; soon to turn 45.Their opponents were a little more than half that at 20 and 32, 52 combined.Even in doubles, where players in their 40s are far from unheard of, 90 to 52 is not a normal differential.That said, just how normal everything felt was about the strangest thing Friday night.Of course, the Williams sisters were playing a match under the lights on Arthur Ashe.Of course, they packed out the stadium for doubles.And of course everybody’s eyes and attention were drawn all evening to the women from Compton, Calif. A dress for Venus, a skirt and a tank top for Serena, who warmed up in a silver Nike varsity jacket with all the years she won this tournament emblazoned on it.