Maya Joint Shocks Williams Sisters Again at US Open

Under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, with a crowd that came to celebrate a reunion, Maya Joint walked back into the Williams sisters’ story and tore up the script for a second time this year.

The Australian, partnering Taiwan’s Hao-Ching Chan, sent Serena and Venus Williams out of the US Open women’s doubles in a gripping first-round contest, winning 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (10/7) after an astonishing comeback from 0-5 down in the deciding match tiebreak.

This was supposed to be a tribute act, a nostalgic night session showcase for two of the sport’s greatest champions. Instead, it became another chapter in Joint’s rapidly growing reputation as the woman who keeps spoiling the farewell tours.

Only weeks ago, she knocked Serena out of the first round of Wimbledon singles on Centre Court. Now, on the biggest stage in New York, she has done it again — this time with Venus alongside her younger sister.

A Night Session Reserved for Legends

First-round doubles rarely touches the Arthur Ashe night schedule. This one did, and with good reason.

Serena and Venus were back together at a major for the first time since 2022, their planned return at Wimbledon derailed when Serena injured her knee. New York, where they claimed the US Open doubles title in 1999 and 2009, and where they entered the night with a 27-8 record in 10 appearances, felt like the right place for a renewed run.

The atmosphere matched the occasion. Every changeover brought roars, every Serena serve drew a surge of noise. The crowd wanted a story of revival.

For a while, it looked like they might get it.

Joint and Chan took the opening set 6-3, handling the pace and pressure with impressive poise. The Williams sisters, once the dominant force in women’s doubles with 14 Grand Slam titles and three Olympic gold medals (2000, 2008, 2012), were rusty but dangerous. The longer the match went, the more their timing and instincts began to return.

They snatched the second set in a tiebreak, 7-6 (8-6), feeding off the noise, the history, the sense of occasion. The stadium shook. The match finally had the feel of a Williams comeback.

Momentum Swings and a Stunning Turnaround

Joint and Chan refused to follow the narrative. They surged to a 4-1 lead in the third set, quieting the stands and pushing the sisters to the brink.

Then the fightback came.

Serena and Venus clawed their way back into the decider, finding depth on the return, sharpening at the net, and dragging the contest into a match tiebreak. Suddenly, all the old patterns reappeared: the big serves, the aggressive returns, the intimidating presence across the net.

The scoreboard raced to 5-0 in their favour in the first-to-10 shootout. A dream comeback was no longer a fantasy; it was unfolding in real time. The stadium sensed it, rose for it, lived it.

And then it all turned.

Joint and Chan tightened their games as the Williams sisters faltered at the worst possible moment. Both Serena and Venus double-faulted in the stretch as the underdogs ripped through 10 of the last 12 points to steal the tiebreak 10-7 and with it the match.

What looked like a farewell celebration became another gut punch.

Echoes of 2022, and a New Reality

For many, the last image of the Williams sisters together at a Grand Slam was that 2022 US Open doubles loss, widely assumed to be their final joint appearance after Serena stepped away from the sport later that year with 23 Grand Slam singles titles to her name.

She returned this summer. The hope, especially in doubles with Venus, was that the comeback might carry a touch of their old dominance, at least in flashes. Instead, it has brought two sharp reminders of how thin the margins now are.

They lost in a match tiebreak in Cincinnati. Now, on Arthur Ashe, they have fallen the same way again, this time from 5-0 up.

Venus’ campaign in New York has been equally unforgiving. She also exited in the first round of singles, another early departure for a player who once owned these courts.

The Williams sisters’ record together will always read like a dynasty: 14 majors, three Olympic golds, a shared stint at No. 1 in doubles, and a standard that reshaped what power, aggression and ambition looked like in the women’s game.

On this night, though, the story belonged to Maya Joint and Hao-Ching Chan — the pair who walked into a packed stadium designed to celebrate legends and walked out having beaten them, again, at their own grand slam farewell party.