After losing in the first round of the US Open at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York to the Czech duo of Linda Nosková and Lucie Hradecká in straight sets, it is likely that Serena Williams’ illustrious doubles career has come to an end. Venus and Serena Williams were defeated by the Czech pair in straight sets.
On Friday, the 23-time grand slam singles champion and 14-time grand slam doubles champion is still scheduled to compete against Ajla Tomljanovic of Australia in the third round of the singles event. On Tuesday, Venus Williams suffered a defeat in the first round.
It is possible that Serena and Venus played their last match together as a doubles combination on Thursday night. After claiming a victory by scores of 7-6(5) and 6-4, the Czech Republic pair of Nosková, 17, and Hradecká, 37, moved on to the next round.
During an on-court interview held shortly after the conclusion of the match, Hradecká addressed the crowd of more than 23,000 spectators and said, “I believe we did a really nice job, and I’m so sorry for you that we defeated them, but we are so glad we accomplished it.”
It was her first time playing doubles, and her partner for the match was Nosková.
The Williams couple got out to a strong start and led the opening set 5-4 with two set points, but the Czech duo was able to come back and win it. Both Hradecká and Nosková were near the back of the pack during the tiebreaker, but they came back to win the last four points.
They had what looked to be an insurmountable 4-1 lead in the second set, but Venus and Serena were able to win three games in a row to even things up. Hradecká’s backhand at the net in between the Williams sisters proved to be the decisive shot in the match as the Czechs maintained their service to go up 5-4 and then broke Serena in the last game to win the match.
The Williams sisters received a wild card to compete in the doubles competition at the US Open. The last time they competed together in doubles was at the 2018 French Open, when they advanced to the round of 16 for the competition.
Serena won the singles match against Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday with a score of 7-6(4), 2-6, and 6-2. After saying in Vogue magazine that she would “evolve away from tennis” after the US Open, Williams played her fourth match since making the announcement.
“The concept of retiring has never appealed to me. It doesn’t seem like a current term to me. I have been considering this to be a transition, but I want to be delicate about how I use that term, as it has a meaning that is really particular and significant to a group of individuals “Williams, who is forty years old, was quoted in an article that was published in Vogue earlier this month.
I’m writing this to let you know that my interests are shifting away from tennis and toward other things that are significant to me “— I quote her.
Venus Williams, who is 42 years old, has not disclosed her intentions for the rest of her tennis career.
If they do decide to retire from professional tennis this year, they will do so with a combined total of 48 Grand Slam championships (in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) and a perfect record in doubles finals if they do so at the same time (14-0). They also won one gold medal apiece in the singles competition and three gold medals in the doubles competition in the Olympics.
