Flushing Meadows, NY – Serena Williams was denied a potential championship double at the U.S. Open, as the World No. 1 singles player and her sister Venus were ousted by the tandem of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka in Friday's women's doubles semifinal.
Just hours after routing Li Na to advance to Sunday's finals rematch against Victoria Azarenka, Serena Williams and the two-time U.S. Open champion Venus were soundly defeated by the fifth-seeded Czech team by a 6-4, 6-2 score on the hardcourts at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
Hlavackova, who captured the mixed doubles crown alongside Belarusian Max Minryi earlier on Friday, and Hradecka reached the title match at Flushing Meadows for the second consecutive year. The pair lost to Italians Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci in the 2012 finals.
The 2011 French Open doubles champions will square off against the eighth- seeded grouping of 17-year-old Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua, with the Australians earning a spot with Thursday's besting of Sania Mirza and Jie Zheng.
Barty and the 28-year-old Dellacqua were the doubles runners-up at both this year's Australian Open and Wimbledon events.
The Williams sisters were seeking a 14th career Grand Slam doubles title, which includes wins at the U.S. Open in both 1999 and 2009. They also own three Olympic gold medals in doubles.
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