New York, Sep 2 : The duo of Venus and Serena Williams, in perhaps their final game on the court of tennis, fell to Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 7-6 (5) 7-6 (5), 4-4 to fall in the initial round of the US Open women’s doubles competition on Friday (IST).Lucie Hradecka 37 Lucie Hradecka, 37 Linda Noskova, 17, despite their age they mingled well in the packed-to-the-brim Arthur Ashe Stadium to demolish the 14-time doubles Grand Slam champions after the first set ran for the full 63 minutes.
The legendary couple quickly packed their bags and made a brief gesture to the crowd , and then walked together to the locker room.
The soon to retire Serena will face Ajla Tomljanovic in Australia in the women’s singles to earn an opportunity to be in the Round of 16.
Venus declared after the match that it was Serena’s idea play doubles.
“She’s the boss.” Venus was quoted as saying to wtatennis.com in addition to, “So (I) do whatever she orders me to do.I don’t believe we’ve played since the year 2016, but I may be doing it wrong.”
The legendary pair had played during the French Open in 2018, which they lost in the round of 16.They had already won their first major title in Oklahoma City and, still teens they had their first Grand Slam at the 1999 French Open.
The pair also have won three Olympic gold medals in the Olympic gold medals in 2000 Sydney and 2008 Beijing and 2012 London.Incredibly, they made it to fourteen Grand Slam finals, winning all of them.
The most recent Grand Slam title came at the 2016 Wimbledon.
Since since then, Serena has played with Danish player Caroline Wozniacki (Auckland, 2020) and the most recent, with Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur earlier this year, playing on grass in Eastbourne.
Venus was a doubles player with American teenager Coco Gauff last year in Paris as well as mixed doubles with Jamie Murray this year at Wimbledon in which they were beaten in the second game.
In her decision to retire, Serena said, “I think I’ve been sort of blocking out everything, but at the same time , I’ve been enjoying a bit of it because I like to be in this moment in time,” she said after winning against Anett Kontaveit last Wednesday.
“I believe that these moments are definitely passing.To me, it’s about embracing a bit but also knowing that I’m here to concentrate.
“I believe that everything is an added benefit.Therefore, I’m trying to determine the percentage I’d like to have of each.”
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