NEW YORK -- "Welcome to the Williams Show," read one fan's sign in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night, as Venus and Serena Williams took the court for their doubles match, a quarter-century after first facing each other in the 2001 US Open final.
A quarter-century of playing pro tennis at a top level -- at any level -- is not a very common thing. And even more incredibly, the Williams sisters, now ages 46 and 44, showed they can still come agonizingly close to beating a top team that is cumulatively around half their age.
In a three-set thriller that delighted a packed and vocal evening crowd, the sisters fell short at the end, blowing a 5-0 lead in the final 10-point tiebreak to lose to Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Maya Joint of Australia, 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (10-7).
So it was indeed quite a thrilling show -- even the sisters themselves, narrowly defeated, walked off with smiles on their faces, though they declined to speak to the media afterward.
"It was an amazing match," Joint said. "They played really well, and I think just the atmosphere on the court. ... I don't think either of us has experienced quite like that before. And playing two legends of the game is just a super special moment that we might not get again."
The hugely entertaining evening came four years after the sisters last played doubles together at Flushing Meadows in 2022, also losing in the first round. It appeared that was their last time together, with Serena stepping away from tennis that year after winning 23 Grand Slam singles titles.
She came back this summer, falling to Joint in three sets at Wimbledon in her return to singles play. She and Venus then had to pull out of their doubles match after Serena hurt her knee.
That delayed their return to the Grand Slam stage until New York, where they won in 1999 and 2009 and are now 27-8 in their 10 appearances.
Friday was only the second major doubles match where the Williams sisters played a deciding-set tiebreak; the first was the third round of the 2009 French Open.
Both double-faulted during the tiebreaker after they had played so brilliantly late in the third set and then in the first few points of the tiebreaker.
They may not have won Friday's match, but they made it a close fight -- thrilling the crowd with some vintage volleys as they took the second set tiebreak to force a decider, then came close to winning that set.
They also lost in a match tiebreaker at the Cincinnati Open.
The unique nature of Friday evening was clear before a ball was struck.
Carlos Alcaraz sure wasn't going to miss it.
"I think there is no better plan [than] to watch the doubles, the Williamses once again, while getting a treatment," the defending men's champion said after winning his match. "I'm going to be ready for that."
The match got a spot in the night session in Arthur Ashe Stadium -- practically unheard of for first-round doubles. After a fairly routine introduction for Chan and Joint, the announcer moved on to the Williamses: "They've transformed and elevated the sport as we know it," he said. "They're two of the greatest athletes of all time."
The sisters were once dominant in women's doubles, teaming to win 14 Grand Slam titles along with Olympic gold medals in 2000, 2008 and 2012. They shared the No. 1 ranking in women's doubles for eight weeks.
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.