Serena and Venus Williams knocked out of doubles’ play by Czech duo at US Open
Serena Williams and Venus Williams, the greatest and third-greatest women’s tennis players, fell into a tiebreaker in the second singles match Friday at the U.S. Open after their opponents, Jelena Jankovic and Ekaterina Makarova, both left the court with injuries.
They had already lost their opening match, and the first set was over and done for both of them. Before the match, Williams had said that she would be “fine,” which isn’t a surprise. She had also said that she was “exhausted” from her physical playing schedule and “overloaded mentally.”
Jankovic and Makarova, however, were left with no option other than to leave the court.
The women didn’t seem to get too hot at the net, which was the result of the two players having problems connecting to their forehands. Jankovic, who is the No. 2 player on the WTA rankings, was ranked No. 25 and Makarova was at 29.
The doubles teams of Williams and Venus, who are both seeded fifth in the U.S. Open, played a doubles match on the first night, but ended up with the same problem.
“I would like to see them in doubles, but that’s not possible because they’re not good enough to do that,” Williams said. “They have too many chances.”
“I think the doubles final’s going to be interesting because it’s going to be a little bit of a tossup,” Williams said.
“They’re both really good, but Venus has more firepower.”
Williams is in line to become the first American woman to win the Grand Slam singles title when she takes the No. 1 spot in the women’s singles draw. Jankovic has won 13 Grand Slam titles, more than anyone else. Makarova has won three Grand Slam titles.
“All they’ve done is to practice and go to tournaments and have their chances and they didn’t get any better,” Williams said. “I look forward to playing them again in
