Serena and Venus Williams eye US Open wildcards after thrilling Cincinnati return

The American pair went down 2-6, 6-1, 10-8 to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns in front of a packed crowd, narrowly missing out on victory after taking the opening set and forcing an extended battle in the third.

The defeat marked the sisters' first appearance together since the 2022 US Open, where Serena brought her illustrious singles career to an end.

The 44-year-old subsequently made a surprise return to the court, initially competing in doubles in June before making her singles comeback at Wimbledon as a wildcard.

However, Serena suffered a knee injury during her first-round defeat by Maya Joint at SW19, forcing her to withdraw from a planned doubles appearance alongside Venus.

"We've waited a long time to get back on the doubles court. Eventually, we find our way to each other," Venus said.

"We give each other so much grace and encouragement.

"This is our first time playing together in forever, and I think we're really getting [into] our stride."

Serena added: "I thought it was fun, it was special, it was good.

"We were starting to feel it. It was really cool to be able to do this again."

The sisters would need wildcards to compete in either singles or doubles at the US Open, which gets underway on Sunday, 30 August.

Meanwhile, the singles action in Cincinnati continued on Monday, with the top seeds advancing safely to the last 16.

Second seed Elena Rybakina defeated Magdalena Frech in straight sets, third seed Jessica Pegula overcame Emma Navarro, sixth seed Linda Noskova dispatched Clara Tauson, and seventh seed Iga Swiatek came from a set down to beat Maria Sakkari.

Fan favourite Alex Eala's run came to an end, however, falling to ninth seed Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 after squandering leads in the second and third sets.

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