US Open makes decision on $138,000 fine for Serena and Venus Williams after rule breach

US Open organisers have reportedly made a decision on whether Serena and Venus Williams will receive a fine for skipping their mandatory press conferences following their loss in the doubles in New York. The legendary sisters lost 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-10 to Australia's Maya Joint and Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan.

The 20-year-old joint also beat Serena in the first round of the singles competition at Wimbledon in July. But on both occasions Serena skipped the post-match press conference, which goes against tennis rules.

Under grand slam rules, players can face up to a US$50,000 fine ($AU69,000) for skipping mandatory press conferences without a good reason. On Friday night, the US Open simply stated that Serena and Venus wouldn't be available to speak following their loss.

It immediately sparked questions as to whether they'd be sanctioned, with both potentially facing up to $138,000 in total fines. But according to journalist James Gray, US Open officials have opted not to fine then.

Serena also escaped a fine for skipping her press conference at Wimbledon. On that occasion it was stated that she was dealing with a knee injury that required immediate treatment, but this time around there's been no reason released to the public. According to Gray it wasn't injury-related this time.

Journalist Simon Chambers wrote on social media platform X: "It would have been nice to hear Serena and Venus Williams talk about the experience of playing together at the US Open one more time, and hear some of their respective future plans. Unfortunately, they refused to do the customary post-match press conference."

American writer Ben Rothenberg simply said it was "deeply unsurprising."

Players fined for same rule breach in the past

In 2021, Naomi Osaka was fined $15,000 for skipping a post-match press conference at the French Open, while Marat Safin copped a $10,000 fine for the same thing at Roland Garros in 2006. Novak Djokovic received a $7500 fine for the same offence at the US Open in 2020 after his infamous default for accidentally hitting a line judge with a ball.

Speaking after her second win over Serena in as many matches, Joint said: "I'm lost for words to think that that happened. She's an idol of mine - both of them are. I looked up to them growing up. I mean, I grew up in Michigan, so I always looked up to them so just to be able to play them twice is amazing. Awesome."

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