Andy Roddick does not think tennis fans have seen the last of Serena Williams following her US Open doubles exit with sister Venus.

The legendary sisters have a combined age of 90 but gave their much younger opponents, Maya Joint and Chan Hao-ching, a fierce battle in a 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (10-7) first-round defeat on a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday night.

The 14th seeds fell 5-0 down in the final set tie-break but Chan and Joint, who beat Serena at this year’s Wimbledon in three sets, roared back to disappoint the raucous home crowd.

The 44-year-old took a singles wildcard at SW19 but decided against accepting one at Flushing Meadows. This begs the question: will this be a brief and unsuccessful flash in the pan?

Or is this part of the 23-time major winner’s bedding-in process? According to former world No 1 Roddick, he thinks Serena will continue playing beyond this year’s US Open.

More US Open News

Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.

He said on Served, “Serena did an interview with Malika Andrews (ESPN). And she just asked her, ‘Are you going to play singles again and a major?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, I want to. I’m going to’.

“I think she’s gonna use this as a springboard… maybe this was a stress test. Can I still play? Is it still there? I think the answer is yes.

“I don’t know if tonight would deter her in any way. The movement looks good. I still think she has more in the serve, legs and shoulder and everything else. I’d bet you a dollar that she plays [in] Australia.

“I have no idea what Venus is gonna do. She is not thirsty. She doesn’t do a ton of it. She doesn’t do a ton of pressure. She just kind of loves the game. Serena… the only reason I have an opinion on it is because she said it very clearly to a very pointed and clear question.”

Serena will almost certainly have to play more singles matches before entering next year’s Australian Open. And while Roddick was full of praise for the Williams sisters, he felt Venus was the the match’s most valuable player.

Roddick continued, “I think Venus was the best player on the court tonight. Venus was dominant, holding serve, attacking returns. I thought she was fantastic.

“She’s a good doubles player still. Made the [US Open] quarters with Leylah Fernandez last year. I thought she played great tonight. She hit the ball great. I thought Serena, like, weirdly, it’s almost like I think she wanted to win for Venus. But it was so fun for me to watch.”

READ MORE: Serena Williams explains what Carlos Alcaraz did at the US Open that she ‘really appreciated’