Williams Sisters Return to Doubles at US Open 2026: Face the Player Who Beat Serena at Wimbledon

Serena Williams just walked onto the practice court at Flushing Meadows, alongside her sister Venus. For the first time in four years, the two tennis legends are reuniting in doubles at a Grand Slam. In the first round of the 2026 US Open, they will face the 14th-seeded team of Maya Joint and Hao-Ching Chan – the same Australian player who defeated Serena at Wimbledon this summer. The context of this match is extraordinary. Serena, 44, returned to competition in 2026 after four years away. At Wimbledon, she lost to Maya Joint 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 and suffered a knee injury during that match. The injury forced her to withdraw from a scheduled doubles match. But now she is back with Venus, her 46-year-old sister who continues to compete despite being past her prime. The last time the sisters played doubles at the US Open was in 2026, losing in the first round to Lucie Hradecká and Linda Nosková. In total, they have won the US Open women's doubles title twice, in 2026 and 2026, along with 14 Grand Slam doubles titles in their careers. Across the net, Maya Joint is just 20 years old, currently ranked in the top 50 in singles – a rising talent in Australian tennis. Hao-Ching Chan, 34, is a doubles specialist who has been ranked in the world's top 10 in this discipline. This pair is seeded 14th – a huge challenge for a wild card team. The key issue lies in the current form of the Williams sisters. Their most recent competitive data is a loss at the 2026 US Open, and Serena has not played a doubles match since. Joint's powerful baseline hitting will put enormous pressure on Serena if her movement is slow after the knee injury. The serve-and-volley, net-attacking style that was once their devastating weapon will be severely tested at ages 44 and 46, in terms of reflexes and court coverage. Their only anchor is experience and near-absolute mutual understanding after decades of playing together. In doubles, chemistry sometimes matters more than raw power. But is it enough to close the gap in fitness and feel for the ball? The irony is that experts rate their chances very low. But having nothing to lose could liberate them. Maya Joint has never played a high-level doubles match with Chan, while Serena and Venus have walked onto major courts together hundreds of times. If Joint gets impatient, if Chan cannot find her rhythm, an upset is entirely possible. History has repeatedly witnessed aging legends creating magic at the US Open. The question is not whether they can win the title, but whether they can finish their first match healthy. Serena's knee will be the biggest unknown. If she moves well in the doubles court, where the coverage area is smaller than in singles, the match could go the distance and create drama. If the knee flares up again, the evening at Flushing Meadows could end in tears. Whatever the result, the moment of the two sisters stepping onto a Grand Slam court together again, after everything they have given, is already a gift to tennis fans worldwide. Elite sport is unforgiving, and the past never guarantees the present. But on an August evening in New York, two women who once dominated the tennis world will stand side by side, facing a hungry younger generation. They have nothing left to prove to anyone. They just want to feel the thrill of competition once more – the thing that made them who they are.