Serena and Venus Williams knocked out of doubles’ play by Czech duo at US Open
The two-time defending champions looked to be in a commanding position to upset second seeds Coco Vandeweghe and Petra Kvitova but, much to the surprise of their fans, were unable to find their rhythm.
Serena’s serve was broken by a backhand return from Kvitova, and two breaks of serve followed as the Czech went on to win, 7-6 (3), 6-1 to reach the last four of the US Open for the first time since 2009.
Vandeweghe, the second seed, had an impressive opening set before she ran into trouble with a third break on her serve against the eighth seed, Venus Williams. The second-seeded American broke Venus two early in the second set to take it, but the damage was already done, as Vandeweghe was broken in the fifth game of the match, and was sent back to the locker room.
Kvitova and Williams were on different end of the spectrum, but the German had to play her part and, although she was broken in the third game of the match, was able to hold off a breakpoint comeback attempt by the American to move through after two hours and 33 minutes.
“Even though I lost the first set, I felt really good and was playing a good game,” Kvitova said. “My serve was good, so maybe I deserved it.
“I had to play my style with Venus because she’s just amazing. I thought I was playing a tough game, a good game, but it was tough to play. I won the first one and I thought I won the second one also. In the third set, I was so tired and couldn’t play the good game.”
The final sets were one-sided, with Williams breaking her opponent in a number of ways to win the tiebreaker. Venus struggled to produce anything, but found her legs in the final set as she saved three match points and was unable to take the lead, before Serena broke again and eventually won the title and her fourth of the tournament.
“I really feel good. I feel like we did a great job preparing for these matches. I think in some way it’s an inspiration to be here in the tournament and make it to the finals,” said