Serena and Venus Williams are taking the court together again.
The legendary duo return to Arthur Ashe Stadium four years after their last appearance together at the US Open, now aged 44 and 46, respectively.
While the pair have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together, their last major tournament victory was at Wimbledon in 2016. On the other hand, their opponents, Maya Joint and Hao-Ching Chan, have never won a title together.
Nevertheless, as of Friday morning, Kalshi traders are pricing the sisters as underdogs at 35%.
For informational purposes only. Not trading advice. See full disclaimer below. Kalshi is a proud partner of the US Open.
Serena is back, reuniting with Venus at the US Open
Four years ago, tennis thought it was saying goodbye to Serena Williams when she made her final appearances on the singles and doubles court at the US Open. In that event, Serena and Venus paired up for what was believed to be a final time, falling in straight-sets to the all-Czech pairing of Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka.
But Serena, a 23-time singles Grand Slam champion, made her triumphant return to the tour earlier this year.
After receiving a wild card for entry at Wimbledon, she opened her season with a singles match on Centre Court in London. There she ironically squared off with one of her Friday opponents, Maya Joint. Williams ultimately showed flashes of brilliance after such a long time away from the top levels of the sport, taking the second set against Joint in a tiebreaker before falling in a decisive third set.
Since that time, she’s stuck to the doubles court, partnering with Victoria Mboko and Karolina Muchova before reconvening with her sister in Cincinnati. Back on home soil the pair were able to reestablish some of the chemistry that made them so successful during the peaks of their playing careers, taking a set off of Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns before falling in a match tiebreak, 10-8.
Unlike their last matchup, doubles at the US Open will use advantage scoring and play a full third set instead of utilizing a match tiebreaker, should it be necessary.
Williams sisters draw a difficult test
When the sisters take the court on Friday, they’ll draw a doubles tandem with a bit of momentum, the No. 14 seeds Joint and Chan.
Though a relatively new pairing, Joint and Chan have played three tournaments together during the summer, reaching the finals at the Memphis Classic in July and the quarterfinals in Cincinnati, upsetting notable pairings like Shnaider/Mertens and Errani/Fernandez in the process.
While Chan is the more seasoned doubles player, Joint has jumped up the ranks this year, leapfrogging her current partner to earn a doubles ranking of No. 30. The Aussie, who opened the year ranked outside the top 200 in doubles, won a title on August 29 in her final warm-up tournament in Monterrey when she partnered with Yifan Xu. Plus, earlier this season she won the WTA 500 doubles event in Abu Dhabi alongside Ekaterina Alexandrova.
But that success didn’t come in a hostile environment, one that Joint knows will be “hectic” on Friday night.
“I think it's going to be a pretty fun match. The atmosphere is going to be pretty hectic, I think,” Joint said ahead of the matchup. “Might be a little bit more challenging than that at Wimbledon, but yeah, I'm excited,” she added.
If Serena and Venus can find a way through their matchup on Friday night, they’ll take on the winner of the match between Korpatsch/Fossa Huergo and Maleckova/Skoch in the second round. Maleckova/Skoch are priced at 72% prior to their Friday match.
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