SERENA and Venus Williams were beaten in their first doubles match together for four years at the Cincinnati Open, going down 2-6 6-1 10-8 against Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.

It was the first time since the 2022 US Open that the sisters had competed together, with Serena opting to step away from tennis in the aftermath of that tournament.

In June, she made a return to doubles before playing singles at Wimbledon as a wild card, though she sustained a knee injury in losing to Maya Joint in the first round and was unable to take part in the doubles alongside her sister as planned.

“We’ve waited a long time to get back on the doubles court. Eventually, we find our way to each other,” Venus said.

“We give each other so much grace and encouragement. This is our first time playing together in forever, and I think we’re really getting into our stride.”

The pair made a poor start against Kostyuk and Stearns but hit back to take the match to a tie-break.

They went 6-0 down in 10-point decider but despite battling back, Kostyuk and Stearns secured victory on a double fault from Venus.

Britain’s Arthur Fery failed to replicate his Wimbledon heroics as he went down to fifth seed Alex De Minaur in straight sets.

Fery, who shot into the world’s top 50 after his stunning run to the semi-final at the All England Club, was playing his first event since that improbable run was ended at the hands of Alexander Zverev.

And Fery showed signs of the same fighting quality as he stormed back from 5-1 down in the second set to force a tie-break, before falling to a 7-5 7-6 (3) defeat.

The match was subject to three rain delays as the weather continued to play havoc with the schedule in Ohio, although there were earlier wins for Flavio Cobolli and Novak Djokovic’s conqueror Thiago Agustin Tirante.

Top seed Zverev, meanwhile, was pushed to his limit by France’s Terence Atmane.

The French Open champion needed a tie-break in both sets to overcome Atmane, ultimately prevailing 7-6 (4) 7-6 (6) in two hours and nine minutes.

Arthur Fils recovered from a slow start to beat ninth seed Jiri Lehecka, while Australian qualifier Chris O’Connell is also through to the fourth round after Brazil’s Joao Fonseca withdrew due to injury.