Thursday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova defeated Serena and Venus Williams 7-6 (5), 6-4 to go to the second round of the U.S. Open women’s doubles tournament.
Ashe has never before hosted a first-round doubles match — for women or men, at night or during the day — before this match, which featured two American sisters who had won a combined 14 Grand Slam championships in doubles but were teaming up for the first time since the 2018 French Open.
This was their fourth loss in the first round of doubles at a Grand Slam, with the most recent being at the 2013 French Open.
Serena and Venus Williams consult while competing against Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in the first round of women’s doubles at the 2022 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City on September 1, 2022. Getty Pictures
As usual, they exchanged fist bumps or palm slaps and conversed between points; they grinned while speaking in their seats during changeovers. When the contest concluded, the sisters exchanged hugs. They departed the court to a standing ovation from the audience.
An advertised sellout crowd of 23,859 was there, just as it had been for each of Serena’s two singles triumphs this week; nevertheless, the spectators were not nearly as vociferous as they had been for those earlier night matches featuring a player who has intimated that this would be her last tournament. Venus was defeated in the first round of singles.
Serena will return to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night for her third-round singles encounter against the Australian Ajla Tomljanovic.
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