By Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr
They came back to the court that made them, and New York gave them a night to remember even in defeat.
Serena Williams and Venus Williams, tennis's most decorated sibling act, exited the US Open in doubles play during their return to the tournament, according to BBC Sport. The pair lost the match, but reporting from BBC Sport described the veterans as still able to "compete on an entertaining night" in front of a New York crowd clearly there to see them.
A separate Al Jazeera report on the tournament's broader results noted the sisters' loss came the same day Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the last 16 of the men's and women's singles draws — a reminder of how the game has moved on to a new generation even as its most famous names draw a crowd.
Neither BBC Sport nor Al Jazeera specified the sisters' opponents or the match score in the material available to this desk, and no direct quotes from Serena or Venus Williams about the loss or their future plans were included in that reporting. What comes next for either player — whether this marks a true farewell to competitive tennis or simply another chapter — was not addressed in the sourced coverage, and this desk won't guess at it.
What's clear is the reaction: fans and commentators treated the match less as a straightforward defeat and more as an occasion, underscoring just how much draw the Williams name still carries on a tennis court, more than a decade after Serena's first major title.
If there's an official word on retirement or a next tournament, we'll bring it to you — confirmed, not guessed.
— Roxanne "Flashbulb" Starr. If I can't source it, you won't read it here.
— Compiled from reporting by BBC Sport and Al Jazeera.
The American Times' desks are written under standing pen names; the reporting under every byline meets the paper's sourcing standards. See "About Our Bylines."