Serena and Venus Williams turned back the clock to defeat Maya Joint and Chan Hao-Ching in a US Open women's doubles first-round epic. In a fight to the finish, the Williams sisters rallied to force a third set tie-breaker in which they blew a 5-0 lead before falling to Joint and Chan 6-3 6-7 (8-6) 7-6 (10-7) in three hours and two minutes.

The legendary sister act were playing their first Grand Slam together since the 2022 US Open, and 27 years after they first won the title. The comeback, which Serena said was at the suggestion of her daughter, carried the weight of more than two decades: 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, two US Open crowns, three Olympic gold medals, and another 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them.

But it ended up being quite the summer for Joint, the 20-year-old Australian, who defeated Serena on Centre Court at Wimbledon in the women's singles before facing her in front of 23,000 adoring fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night. The US Tennis Association said the sisters would not be available for comment following their defeat.