Venus, Serena come up short against Peyton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk at Cincinnati Open

For a brief moment, it seemed as though Venus and Serena would turn back time and get a doubles win at the Cincinnati Open.

They overcame a slow start in the first set by taking the second set against Ohio native Peyton Stearns and Ukranian Marta Kostyuk.

The 10 point tiebreaker decided the match. Stearns and Kostyuk leapt out to a 6-0 start. Venus and Serena rallied but lost it 10-8.

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Venus and Serena got better as the match went on

After dropping the first set 2-6, the Williams sisters improved their serving and returning to take the second set 6-1.

Venus and Serena have always been fun to watch in doubles. This was their first doubles match since the 2022 US Open. Hopefully, they play together again soon, perhaps with a US Open wildcard?

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6 degrees of separation between the two teams

Though never playing each other before, the two teams had some common threads.

Peyton Stearns is coached by David Witt who coached Venus Williams for over a decade.

Stearns is also the last player to lose a singles match to Venus, last summer at the Mubadala DC Open.

Great day of doubles

Women’s doubles enjoyed a great day in Cincinnati. New teams formed for this tournament succeeded including Iva Jovic and Caty McNally, Leylah Fernandez and Sara Errani, and Gabriela Dabrowski and Barbora Krejcikova.

The WTA top doubles team comprised of Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend were also victorious.

Watch the Cincinnati Open airing live on Tennis Channel daily through August 23.

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