SISTER ACT: Serena Williams, right, playing alongside her sister Venus Williams, hits a return to Taiwan's Chan Hao-ching and Australia's Maya Joint during their women's doubles first-round tennis match on day six of the US Openat the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City.
Defending singles champions Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka sailed into the last 16 of the US Open on Friday as tennis icons Serena and Venus Williams suffered an agonising defeat on their long-awaited return to Grand Slam doubles.
Alcaraz, coming off a four-month injury absence, beat China's Wu Yibing 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 to book his place in the fourth round while Sabalenka was similarly dominant in a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of Kamilla Rakhimova.
Alcaraz will face 20th-seeded American Tommy Paul for a place in the quarter-finals after Paul beat 15th-seeded Alexander Bublik 6-4, 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-1, 6-3.
"The way he plays is unbelievable, the rhythm he has on every shot — forehand, backhand," Alcaraz said of Wu. "His balls skid a lot on the court and, for me, it's really difficult to control sometimes.
