Serena and Venus Williams knocked out of doubles’ play by Czech duo at US Open
NEW YORK — Serena Williams and Venus Williams were on the wrong side of a double-elimination playoff at the U.S. Open when they were outworked by a pair of Czech players.
The No. 1-ranked Williams sisters were on the other end of a similar double-elimination event when they bowed out Sunday morning at Arthur Ashe Stadium after a pair of 4-set games, with Serena losing 6-4, 7-5 to Daniela Hantuchová.
They were both trying to win the mixed doubles championship, which was decided in a tiebreaker Sunday night.
As in Wednesday’s semifinal in New York that Williams and sister Sam won, the last two legs were decided Saturday night.
Playing against Hantuchová was third-seeded Roberta Vinci and Violetta Srebotnik, the pair of No. 4 seeds who defeated Williams-Henderson and Williams-Kimberly Guilfoyle in the mixed doubles final, the first time the sisters have been outplayed by a pair of top-two seeds.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played a pair of top seeds in top competition and I just don’t understand that I always struggle with them and they always struggle with me,” Vinci said. “I don’t know why, but I never really understand how they can just compete with us.”
It was the ninth straight match in which Serena and Williams appeared to be outmatched by a top-two pair.
The sisters were upset by Serena Williams-Henderson in the finals of the mixed doubles final at Wimbledon earlier this year. They also went down in straight sets to Kim Clijsters and Stefanie Voegele in the title match at the same tournament.
This time, they