There will be no farewell grand slam title in doubles for Serena Williams after she and sister Venus lost in the first round at the US Open.
The sisters decided to give it one last whirl four years after their last slam appearance together and six years on from the most recent of their 14 titles.
But the old magic was not quite there and they fell to a 7-6 (5) 6-4 loss to the Czech duo of 37-year-old Lucie Hradecka and 17-year-old Linda Noskova.
The match was surely the first opening-round doubles contest ever to begin a night session on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
When it was announced Serena and Venus would be playing doubles, it had appeared this might be the former's last match, but her success in singles gave this contest a slightly different complexion.
The competitive desire was very much there, and Serena again looked sharp both from the back of the court and at the net.
But Hradecka and Noskova hung on and then seized their chance in the tie-break, Hradecka threading a fine pass down the line on set point to virtual silence.
She was emerging as the key player against her fellow veterans and, although Serena and Venus retrieved an early break to get back to 4-4, a break of the Serena serve settled the contest.
Serena will now concentrate solely on trying to extend her final tournament in singles, where she will take on Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round on Friday.
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk declined to shake the hand of her Belarusian opponent Victoria Azarenka after their second-round singles match.
Kostyuk has been the most vocal critic of the lack of condemnation from Russian and Belarusian players to the invasion of her country.
After Azarenka's 6-2 6-3 victory, 20-year-old Kostyuk did not offer her hand to her opponent, instead holding out her racket for a cursory tap.
Kostyuk said: "I just don't think it's the right thing to do in the circumstances I'm in right now. I don't know any single person who condemned the war publicly, and the actions of their government so I don't feel like I can support this.
"We had a great match, don't get me wrong. She's a great competitor, I respect her as an athlete, but that has nothing to do with her being a human being.
"People who didn't watch the match will probably slam me and tell me, 'She's such a b***h, thank God Vika beat her, she talks too much, and it was a fair score'. But it was honestly a super close match."
Kostyuk singled out Azarenka because of her profile and role on the WTA Player Council and believes she should have made more of an effort to speak personally to Ukrainian players.
Azarenka insisted she has offered help and support, saying: "I've offered many times through WTA, because I believe there is a sort of sensitivity. I've been told that that's not a good time.
"I never had a close relationship with Marta. In March when everything happened, I have reached out to all the (Ukrainian) players that I personally know and I still have a good relationship with.
"I don't feel that forcing myself to speak to somebody who maybe doesn't want to speak to me for different reasons is the right approach. But I offered.
"I feel like I've had a very clear message from the beginning, is that I'm here to try to help, which I have done a lot. Maybe not something that people see. And that's not what I do it for.
"I do it for people who are in need, juniors who need clothes, other people who need money or other people who needed transportation or whatever. If Marta wants to speak with me - she texted me yesterday, I replied. I'm open to any time to listen, to try to understand, to sympathise.
"I know she's going through a lot of difficult situations. It's not easy to handle. From my perspective, I wish she had somebody who guided her a little bit better."
Kostyuk had wanted to meet Azarenka on Wednesday to explain she would not shake her hand but the players were not at Flushing Meadows at the same time.
On the lack of handshake, Azarenka said: "I wasn't surprised. I always shake hands with my opponents. I had the same situation with (Ukrainian Dayana) Yastremska in Washington. I just move on. I cannot force anybody to shake my hand. It's not the most important thing in the world right now."
Tennis has been searching for the best way to handle the Ukraine situation. Russian and Belarusian players were banned from Wimbledon and the build-up tournaments but have otherwise been allowed to play under a neutral flag, to the disgust of Kostyuk and other Ukrainian players.
On the eve of the US Open, Kostyuk revealed she had declined to take part in a fundraiser for Ukraine at Flushing Meadows because Azarenka had been due to participate, although she was subsequently excluded from the event.
Back on the court, world number one Iga Swiatek chipped away at American Sloane Stephens' defensive play to roll into the third round of the US Open 6-3 6-2 on her Arthur Ashe Stadium debut.
The 2017 champion Stephens saved eight of 12 break points but once again could not fend off the Pole's offensive barrage after losing to her in straight sets last month in the Cincinnati third round.
Swiatek, who collected her second Roland Garros title this year amid an extraordinary 37-match winning streak, sent 14 winners over the net - twice as many as her opponent - and won more than three-quarters of her first-serve points.
Playing on the court where she watched 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams as a junior, the Indian Wells and Miami winner traded breaks with Stephens early in the first set before converting on the fourth try in the fourth game.
She pounced on the momentum as Stephens' serve deteriorated in the second set, winning the first four games and pumping her fist after forcing the American into a backhand error to close out the affair.
Swiatek is the last of the top four seeds remaining at Flushing Meadows after world number two Anett Kontaveit lost to Williams on Wednesday and hard-hitting Greek Maria Sakkari and Spain's Paula Badosa also fell in the second round.
Additional reporting: PA/Reuters
