Williams sisters fall at Cincinnati while Zverev advances

AFP | Cincinnati

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Serena and Venus Williams lost in their first doubles match together since 2022 while men's top seed Alexander Zverev battled into the fourth round at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters.

The Williams sisters, with 14 Grand Slam titles and three Olympic gold medals together, were side-by-side for the first time since the 2022 US Open but lost to American Peyton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 1-6, 10-8.

"It was fun and special. We kicked off a little rust," Serena Williams said. "I didn't come here to win this tournament. It's about having fun and I did want to do the best I could."

German star Zverev, the reigning French Open champion, won his ATP season-best 46th match of the campaign by defeating Terrance Atmane 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6).

Zverev finished the Frenchman, a 2025 Cincinnati semi-finalist, with a sizzling backhand down the line.

"He was playing incredibly aggressively, hitting forehands all over the court," Zverev said. "He made it difficult for you to play aggressive yourself."

Serena, 44, and Venus, 46, each lost serve once in the first set, dropping six of the final seven games, but dominated the second set and rallied from 8-2 down in the 10-point tie-breaker third set only to lose on a Venus double fault.

"It was weird to be in a full stadium. This is not my usual Monday night," said Serena, who noted with the US Open approaching that their reunion is a limited-time attraction.

"This is not forever. It's... not long," she said. "We don't have to play every week. It's a bit different."

Alexandra Eala, the 17th-seeded Filipina, lost to US ninth seed Amanda Anisimova, who recovered after losing a 65-minute opening set for a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.

The opener featured a 20-minute fifth game, with Eala, 21, coming back from a break down before Anisimova battled back.

Men's fifth seed Alex de Minaur battled through multiple rain interruptions to defeat Arthur Fery 7-5, 7-6 (7/3). The Australian was up a set and 5-1 after a 30-minute stoppage before Wimbledon semi-finalist Fery caught fire, but he took the tie-break to advance despite 29 unforced errors.