Venus and Serena Williams have been defeated in the first round of the doubles at this year’s US Open.

The sisters fell 7-6 (5), 6-4 to Czech duo Lucie Hradecka and Linda Noskova on Thursday night after joining forces for their first US Open since 2014.

The tennis veterans have combined to claim 14 Grand Slam doubles titles and won their last together at the French Open in 2018.

Noskova, 17, claimed victory on what was her Grand Slam doubles debut.

Meanwhile Hradecka, 37, has previously won two major doubles trophies with a different partner.

Their win means Serena Williams, 40, is now free to focus on what could be the final singles campaign of her career.

The 23-time Grand Slam champion beat second seed Anett Kontaveit at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York after a performance described as one her best.

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Williams hailed the influence of Tiger Woods who was among fans and famous faces cheering her on to victory.

Now she will face Australian rival Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round on Friday.

Williams revealed how she is “evolving away from tennis” as she announced plans to retire from the sport to “grow her family”.

But she described feeling “a great deal of pain” over her departure: “It’s the hardest thing that I could ever imagine. I hate it.

“I’m torn. I don’t want it to be over. I love to win. I love the battle. I love to entertain.”

But she said she knows “this is it, the end of a story that started in Compton, California, with a little black girl who just wanted to play tennis”.

Williams, mum to daughter Olympia, five, recently unveiled the cover of her first children’s book, due to be launched at the end of this month.

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