Serena Williams reportedly left the US Open without speaking to the media after she and Venus Williams were knocked out of the women’s doubles, while Venus stayed behind at the stadium but also did not face reporters.
The sisters lost their first-round match to Hao-Ching Chan and Maya Joint at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Friday, September 4. After the defeat, Serena, 44, reportedly left the venue in a private car directly from the court.
Bounces reporter Ben Rothenberg said Serena “fled the scene as fast as she could” after the match.
Venus, 46, took a different route. She reportedly remained at the arena and went to the locker room, expecting to speak with the media. But she did not go ahead with the press appearance without Serena.
The USTA later told credentialed reporters who had requested interviews with the sisters that they “will not be available for press tonight.”
Players can be fined for failing to meet Grand Slam media obligations, but that did not happen in this case. After Rothenberg asked the USTA whether the sisters would be penalised, the organisation said Serena and Venus would not face a fee for missing Friday’s media duties.
Their doubles appearance came after Serena had already made a notable return to the US Open alongside Carlos Alcaraz in mixed doubles. The pair defeated Lloyd Glasspool and Erin Routliffe before their run ended in the quarterfinals against Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli.
Serena had spoken to reporters after that match and admitted that even she did not expect to be back on the famous court.
“I never expected to be back on this court,” she said. “It’s just a really cool moment. I never thought this would happen.”