Serena, Venus to face Chan, Joint in US Open doubles first round
Two-time US Open doubles champions Serena and Venus Williams will open their 2026 campaign against No. 14 seeds Chan Hao-Ching and Maya Joint.
The legendary sister act first competed at Flushing Meadows in 1997, falling 6-4, 7-5 in the first round to Julie Hetherington and Kathy Rinaldi. They went on to lift the trophy in 1999 (beating Chanda Rubin and Sandrine Testud in the final) and in 2009 (dethroning defending champions Cara Black and Liezel Huber in the final) -- two of their 14 total Grand Slam doubles crowns. They will be playing their first major together since the 2022 US Open, where they lost 7-6(5), 6-4 to Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova in the first round.
Serena and Venus returned to action for the first time since that match three weeks ago in Cincinnati, where they fell 6-2, 1-6, [10-8] in the first round to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns. They will be bidding for their first win as a team since defeating Sara Errani and Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 6-2 in the second round of Roland Garros 2018.
Joint is a familiar opponent for Serena this summer: in the former World No. 1's only singles match of her comeback so far, the Australian defeated her 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 in the first round of Wimbledon. Chan and Joint will be playing their fourth tournament together -- the pair teamed up for the first time last month and have reached the Memphis final, Toronto second round and Cincinnati quarterfinals so far. In addition, Joint captured her third career WTA doubles title last week in Monterrey alongside Xu Yifan. Chan collected her 22nd WTA doubles title last month in Athens with Miyu Kato.
Chinese Taipei's Chan holds a 1-0 record against Serena and Venus as a team -- partnering Huber, she won their 2013 Beijing first round over the Williams sisters 6-7(3), 6-4, [11-9]. Serena avenged that loss nine years later, joining up with Ons Jabeur to defeat Chan and Shuko Aoyama 6-2, 6-4 in the 2022 Eastbourne quarterfinals.
The winners will face either Nicole Fossa Huergo and Tamara Korpatsch or Jesika Maleckova and Miriam Skoch in the second round. Their projected third-round opponents are No. 4 seeds Hsieh Su-Wei and Jelena Ostapenko.
No. 1 seeds Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend open their bid for a first US Open title together against American wild cards Reese Brantmeier and Savannah Broadus. Siniakova previously lifted the trophy alongside Barbora Krejcikova in 2022, while Townsend is a two-time runner-up (with Caty McNally in 2022 and with Siniakova last year).
Defending champions Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe have both teamed with different partners this year. Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani are the No. 2 seeds, and start against Anastasia Detiuc and Irina Khromacheva. Routliffe and Aldila Sutjiadi are the No. 9 seeds, and begin against Ann Li and Clara Tauson.
Elsewhere, 2012 champion Sara Errani has teamed up with 18-year-old phenom Lilli Tagger for the second major of the season (the pair made the second round of Roland Garros). They will face the 16-year-old American twin sisters, Annika and Kristina Penickova, in the first round, and potentially Dabrowski and Stefani in the second.
