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The Williams sisters' return to doubles play at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters ended in a first-round defeat, as they lost to American Payton Stearns and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 1-6, 10-8. Serena Williams, 44, and Venus Williams, 46, were playing together for the first time since the 2022 US Open, aiming to enjoy their time on court rather than focus solely on winning.

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It was fun and special. We kicked off a little rust. I didn't come here to win this tournament. It's about having fun and I did want to do the best I could.

"It was fun and special. We kicked off a little rust," Serena Williams said. "I didn't come here to win this tournament. It's about having fun and I did want to do the best I could." The sisters showed flashes of their former brilliance, dominating the second set and rallying from 8-2 down in the decisive tie-breaker, but ultimately fell on a Venus double fault.

"It was weird to be in a full stadium. This is not my usual Monday night," Serena added, acknowledging their reunion is a limited-time attraction. "This is not forever. It's... not long," she said. "We don't have to play every week. It's a bit different."

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It was weird to be in a full stadium. This is not my usual Monday night. This is not forever. It's... not long. We don't have to play every week. It's a bit different.

In men's singles, German star Alexander Zverev, the reigning French Open champion, secured his 46th match win of the season by defeating Terrance Atmane 7-6 (7/4), 7-6 (8/6). Zverev praised Atmane's aggressive play, noting, "He was playing incredibly aggressively, hitting forehands all over the court. He made it difficult for you to play aggressive yourself."

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He was playing incredibly aggressively, hitting forehands all over the court. He made it difficult for you to play aggressive yourself.

Other results saw 17th-seeded Alexandra Eala of the Philippines lose to American ninth seed Amanda Anisimova 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Men's fifth seed Alex de Minaur battled through rain delays to defeat Arthur Fery 7-5, 7-6 (7/3), admitting, "You never want to go into a rain delay leading 5-1. It was a tough day with all the interruptions. I can't remember a match that started and stopped so many times. I'm happy with how I found a way."

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You never want to go into a rain delay leading 5-1. It was a tough day with all the interruptions. I can't remember a match that started and stopped so many times. I'm happy with how I found a way.