In what could be her first step on the road back to the U.S. Open, Serena Williams played tennis on U.S. soil for the first time in nearly four years Monday, teaming with her sister Venus in doubles at the Cincinnati Open. The sisters looked rusty in a first-round match against Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns, losing 6-2, 1-6, 1-0(8).

It was just Williams’ fourth match, and her first on a hard court, since she opened the second chapter of her illustrious career earlier this summer. Four years after saying she was “evolving away” from tennis after the 2022 U.S. Open, the 23-time Grand Slam champion began her comeback on grass in June, pairing with Canadian rising star Victoria Mboko to win a doubles match at Queen’s in London and ending her expedited grass-court season with a first-round singles loss at Wimbledon to the Australian Maya Joint in three tight sets.

The Williams sisters, who together have won 14 Grand Slam doubles titles, were supposed to team up for doubles at Wimbledon but had to withdraw before their first match because of a knee injury that Serena, 44, picked up playing Joint.

Serena Williams hasn’t yet announced her plans — for singles and either of the doubles events — for the U.S. Open later this month, but if she decides she is fit enough to play, the opportunity is there for her to follow the same playbook that she used ahead of Wimbledon and contest a couple of doubles matches before taking to the singles court. The U.S. Open is holding three wild-card entries open for its lid-lifting mixed doubles tournament, the field for which was announced Monday, which could allow Williams the opportunity to get more matches under her belt. The U.S. Open’s main draw singles event begins Aug. 31.

On Monday, Williams looked to be moving well in a first set that was understandably sluggish considering her lack of recent matches.

While Serena hasn’t played since Wimbledon, Venus, 46, has played both singles and doubles at tournaments in Washington, D.C., Toronto and Cincinnati as a wild-card entry. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has not won a match in more than a year — she beat Stearns last July at the D.C. Open in what was her return to the WTA tour after time away for health reasons.

Serena and Venus walked out to a packed crowd on the second-largest show-court in Cincinnati and were off to a rocky start, handing Stearns and Kostyuk a break for a 2-1 lead early in the first set. Both sisters’ reaction times were slow as they worked to find their rhythm, though both showed off their formidable power when given the chance. More than anything, they proved the championship mindset never fades.

The sisters shook off their poor first set, settled in, and won the first three games of the second as their timing and shot selection improved enough to take advantage of a slight dip from Stearns and Kostyuk.

In the 10-point tiebreak, which replaces a third set in doubles matches on the WTA and ATP tours, the Williams sisters trailed 6-0 before rallying to make it 8-5 after a pair of double faults from Kostyuk.

Then, it was Serena’s turn to serve. She stepped to the line as the crowd roared and delivered, hammering two unreturnable serves out wide to make it 8-7 before sending back a poor return to give away the next point. She then smashed an easy volley at the net to keep the sisters in the hunt, trailing 9-8. The match ended anticlimactically with a double fault from Venus Williams.

Free agent wide receiver Keenan Allen and the Indianapolis Colts agreed to a one-year deal worth up to $8.32 million on Monday night, according to multiple reports. The former Los Angeles Chargers receiver will join a Colts wide receivers corps that lacked depth behind top targets Alec Pierce, who remains sidelined while recovering from left ankle and heel surgery, and Josh Downs.

Allen reunites with Colts coach Shane Steichen, who worked with Allen for seven years when they were both with the Chargers. Steichen held varying titles with the Chargers, most notably serving as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020. Allen totaled 204 catches for 2,191 yards and 14 touchdowns during those two years.

Allen’s output has understandably tapered off since then, as he creeps up in age. The 34-year-old, however, still brings a wealth of experience and recent production to the Colts. Allen recorded 81 receptions for 777 yards and four touchdowns last year with the Chargers. That’s not dissimilar from what the Colts got last season from Michael Pittman Jr., whom they traded to the Pittsburgh Steelers during the offseason. Pittman delivered 80 catches for 784 yards and seven scores in Indy last year.

Allen has notched at least 65 catches, 700 receiving yards and four TDs in nine straight seasons.

Allen, a six-time Pro Bowler, is likely to serve as the Colts’ third starting receiver alongside Pierce and Downs. Pierce led the NFL in yards per reception in each of the last two years (22.3 in 2024 and 21.3 in 2025), and he inked a four-year, $114 million deal in March to remain in Indy. Downs, meanwhile, is entering the final year of his rookie deal. He’s proven himself as a playmaker in the slot and should command more targets this season in the absence of AD Mitchell and Michael Pittman Jr., who were traded to the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers, respectively.

Allen’s skillset overlaps the most with Downs’ thanks to both receivers’ prowess in the short and intermediate passing game, so there could be some redundancy in how they’re utilized in the Colts’ offense. But considering the players who are behind Downs and Pierce on the depth chart and the Colts’ ample cap space, it makes sense to add Allen, who is a consistent and proven commodity.

Before reaching an agreement with Allen, the Colts have been experimenting with veterans Ashton Dulin, Nick Westbrook-Ikhine and Laquon Treadwell as their third starting receiver in training camp. Dulin has primarily been a standout gunner during his career and has only tallied 40 catches for 623 yards and four TDs in six seasons (excluding the 2023 campaign that he missed due to a torn ACL). Westbrook-Ikhine, meanwhile, has 137 receptions for 1,862 yards and 19 touchdowns in six years, highlighted by a nine-TD season with the Tennessee Titans in 2024. Last year, however, Westbrook-Ikhine totaled just 11 catches for 89 yards and zero touchdowns with the Miami Dolphins. Lastly, Treadwell, a 2016 first-round pick, hasn’t recorded a reception in a game since 2023. He has just 111 receptions for 1,242 yards and five TDs across 10 seasons.

Allen has more catches (1,055), receiving yards (12,051) and receiving touchdowns (70) than every other wideout on the Colts’ roster combined. He’s one of only 18 players all-time who’ve notched 1,000 receptions, and he ranks fourth among active players in receiving yards.