Cincinnati Open: Williams sisters fall in doubles while Zverev advances

Top seed Alexander Zverev battled into the fourth round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters on Monday while Serena and Venus Williams lost in their first doubles match together in four years.

German star Zverev, who won Roland Garros and finished Wimbledon runner-up this year, won his ATP season-best 46th match of the campaign by defeating Terrance Atmane 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6).

Zverev finished off the Frenchman, a 2025 Cincinnati semifinalist, with a sizzling backhand down the line.

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

The Williams sisters, with 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals together, were side-by-side for the first time since the 2022 US Open but lost to American Payton 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.”

The siblings each lost serve once in the first set and lost 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 fall 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 the reunion is a limited-time attraction.