(NEW YORK) — Venus Williams and Serena Williams, a pair who first walked onto the national stage of professional tennis in the 1990s, have most likely walked off the court together for the last time.
The legendary sister act likely came to a close on Thursday night after the pair lost 7-6(5), 6-4, to the Czech team of Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka.
The first-round game marked, most likely, the final time Serena Williams and her older sister Venus Williams would play in a Grand Slam doubles tournament together. Serena Williams had announced that she was “evolving away” from tennis in a personal essay in Vogue in August.
Venus Williams had told reporters earlier in the week that the idea to play together was her sister’s.
“She’s the boss so I do whatever she tells me to do,” she had said while smiling.
The two sisters have dominated the tennis world for nearly three decades, ending their go as a pair on the same court they had won their first U.S. Open Doubles title in 1999. The duo would go on to win 22 titles, 14 Grand Slams and three Olympic gold medals while playing together.
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