Serena and Venus Williams knocked out of doubles’ play by Czech duo at US Open
Serena and Venus Williams were knocked out of the US Open doubles’ contest by a pair of fellow Americans at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday.
Serena was the first person to lose a US Open doubles match when she and Kim Clijsters lost 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 to American Jamie Hampton and Nicole Melas after the match had started with the Williams sisters serving at 5-all.
In the other semi-final, Clijsters saw her first match end when she was forced to retire from a 6-5, 7-6(3), 6-1 loss to American Madison Brengle, who defeated Clijsters for her second career title.
A month after beating Williams to win the US Open title, Brengle, 22, had reached her first Grand Slam final, the first by a 17-year-old since Maria Sharapova defeated her in the 2015 US Open final.
“She fought,” Serena said. “She worked her ass off and she finally got her moment.”
The final is set to be played at the same time as the women’s singles matches, which will be played on Friday.
The women were the last pair in the singles competition before their opening matches.
The top two seeds in the men’s tournament were already eliminated. Andy Murray’s first match of the US Open featured a first-round defeat to compatriot Novak Djokovic.
Djokovic is the first player to reach three consecutive Grand Slam finals since Rafael Nadal in 2012, when he faced Roger Federer for the Australian Open title.
“It’s the same thing, two weeks in a row I’m playing with three of the best players in the world,” Djokovic said.
“We have to be at our best to