Williams Sisters Draw Joint and Chan in US Open Doubles Opener
Serena and Venus Williams will face Maya Joint and Hao-Ching Chan in the first round of women's doubles at the U.S. Open. The sisters recently lost in the Cincinnati Open first round, their first match together since 2022. Joint and Chan reached the Cincinnati quarterfinals and the Memphis final this year, presenting a tough challenge.
The sisters' Cincinnati appearance marked their first competitive pairing since the 2022 US Open, with Serena's injury having kept them from Wimbledon. Venus noted the pair were still finding their rhythm together. Serena has already competed in mixed doubles at this year's US Open with Carlos Alcaraz, reaching the quarterfinals before falling to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli.
Joint and Chan arrive with momentum, having reached the Cincinnati quarterfinals and the Memphis Classic final this season. Chan brings considerable Grand Slam experience, including a 2024 US Open semifinal run with Veronika Kudermetova and a Wimbledon runner-up finish in 2017. The Williams sisters own 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, two earned at Flushing Meadows.
The Williams sisters' continued participation in doubles could draw renewed attention to the US Open's doubles brackets, which often receive less coverage than singles. Their matches may attract casual