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The Williams sisters walked off the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium, side by side as they have been throughout their storied careers, for presumably the last time.
There wasn’t an empty seat in the stadium during the match, but in this moment, not a single seat was occupied as everyone in attendance was on their feet. A boisterous applause lingered with an understanding of the potential magnitude of the moment. Serena and Venus Williams waved, appreciatively.
A 7-6 (5), 6-4 loss to the Czech duo of Linda Noskova and Lucie Hradecka bounced the Williams sisters in the first round of the women’s doubles bracket at the U.S. Open on Thursday night. Noskova and Hradecka will advance, the women’s doubles tournament will go on, but it will likely never feature the 14-time doubles Grand Slam winners ever again — and that was the magnitude of the moment.
After a back-and-forth first set went to a tiebreaker, which also saw the Americans and Czechs trade points until the latter ran away with it, Noskova and Hradecka dominated the first three games of the second set.
