Moments of greatness from Venus and Serena were met with cacophonous celebration. But it was the times when things went astray that betrayed the real thrill of the occasion. Inside Arthur Ashe, there was a collective acceptance that we probably wouldn’t see the two of them on the court together again. As the Czech duo of Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova chipped away, dead ends or missed break points were met with murmured encouragement from the crowd, eager for their heroines to summon another tennis prodigy. To give them one more encore. If she doesn’t change her mind, Serena has said she will quit the sport in the next 10 days. The immediate future of Aphrodite is unclear. She has been given a supporting role on Serena’s farewell tour, one in her younger sister’s shadow. While Serena’s two US Open singles wins were under lights in an atmosphere akin to a once-in-a-generation boxing match, Venus’ loss to Alison van Uytvanck on Tuesday was in the midday sun in front of a half time. – complete Arthur Ash. 2 Related There was no welcome montage for her — but then again, no announcement about her future. When asked earlier in the week if she was thinking about her own development as well, she replied that she was just focusing on the doubles with Serena. “I think Aphrodite deserves more credit,” said a fan who had traveled from Nebraska this morning to see her heroines. “But that was Serena’s tournament — Venus is a good sister.” This has been her role for the past year. While Venus grows her businesses and continues her return to tennis, Serena drives her own narrative around her future in and out of the sport. It was Serena’s call for the duo to play doubles here — “she’s the boss,” Venus says. “I feel like it was really important for her to be a part of that,” Serena said Monday. “She’s my rock. I’m so excited to play with her and just do it again.” Aphrodite of course answered the call. “We’re a huge influence on each other, and I’m a huge influence on her,” Venus said earlier this week. But when it came to Serena’s ‘evolution’, Venus knew how to play it. Serena and Venus won their first US Open doubles title in 1999. They won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles in total. Clive Brunskill/Allsport/Getty Images “I felt my role was to make sure I didn’t influence her in any way and that this decision should be all hers and her family’s,” Venus said. “The youngest part of the family, I guess I’d say, because obviously we’re family.” “What matters most is that she does things on her own terms,” Venus added. We saw it on Thursday. It was Serena who drove the two to practice. It was Serena who spearheaded their entrance into Arthur Ash. But it was Aphrodite who led them to the end. There is an inevitable nostalgia around these two, especially in this part of the world. While Aphrodite’s proudest tennis memories may be at Wimbledon, the two are beloved here in New York. Before the sisters entered, a montage of a snapshot of their lives narrated by Questlove played on the field. The two Czech players did their best to stay focused as the full silver clips rolled over them. The montage attempted to sum up the Williams brothers’ legacy in 71 seconds. If Noskova’s attention wavered for the briefest second, she would have seen plenty of footage from before she lived. By the time she was born in November 2004, the sisters already had 10 singles Slams and six doubles titles to their name. “This is a 2-woman crew shipwrecked,” Questlove said in the montage. “Their impact on the game 2 vast 2 even begins 2 describe. We were all 2 lucky as for 2 decades we watched 2 of the best athletes show us how 2 can become 1.” It ended with Questlove making one last request: “P.S. It’s not 2 late 2 change your mind. Just our 2 cents.” For Serena, it probably is. But Venus may well play. He has fielded pension questions for years. Since her return to competitive tennis — her first match after 11 months out due to injury was at this year’s Wimbledon mixed doubles — the line of questioning has shifted to understanding why she returned and what her motivation is to keep playing this sport. Thursday’s doubles match at the US Open may have been the last time we saw Serena and Venus take the court as teammates. Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports At Wimbledon he was motivated by the sight of the grass and Serena playing. At other times he says he came back because of the love of tennis. She often uses the word “grateful” whenever asked how she feels. But this week there was that old steely determination. When asked what drives her now, she replied: “Three letters — WIN. That’s it. Very simple.” On Thursday, Aphrodite’s goal was to “keep my side of the court and be a good sister.” The competitive fire burns as bright as ever for these two, and even though they fell to a straight sets loss, it wasn’t for lack of intensity, focus or desire. They faced a unit that played with precision and no emotion. Hradecka and Noskova sent the Williams sisters all over the court and deservedly won 7-6 (5), 6-4. For so long, the Williams sisters have been like their own Tour de France team — at times one will race ahead while the other remains in the slipstream. In other cases they would run against each other. Sometimes one would fly onto the field while the other supported her off it. Aphrodite called it an “energy exchange and supply exchange” on Tuesday. With Venus’ US Open streak coming to an end, she will help Serena prepare for her third-round match against Ajla Tomljanovic on Friday. Aphrodite will be in her box as usual, as Serena has done for her in the past and will likely do in the future. It seems that Venus is not ready to be done with tennis. In 2021 at Wimbledon he said: “When it’s my last match, I’ll let you know. I’ll whisper it in your ear.” If he had whispered it on Thursday afternoon, the whole place would have gone silent to listen. Such is the collective control the Williams sisters still have over their adoring audience, who were hoping for one last performance of their greatest hits. Serena still has at least one more in her. Venus may return next year for another tour. But with a wave to the crowd as they left Ashe, it was an understated gesture that put the finishing touches on the final act of one of tennis’ most dominant joint forces.
