( CNN ) -- Venus and Serena Williams ' bid for a fifth consecutive Grand Slam doubles title ended when they were beaten in the Wimbledon quarterfinals . The defending champions were beaten 3-6 6-3 6-4 by Russian pair Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva -- their first defeat at the championships since 2003 . Zvonareva could potentially meet Serena in the single 's final if both win their semifinals on Thursday . The Russian plays Tsvetana Pironkova , from Bulgaria , who beat Venus on Tuesday . Serena is due to play unseeded Czech Petra Kvitova . The Williams ' sisters raced through the opening set but were pegged back by their Russian opponents in the second . Zvonareva and Vesnina broke early in the deciding set and never looked back as they powered into the final four . It means Wimbledon is over for Venus -- the first time she will leave the All England Club in London without a trophy since 2006 . During the last three years the sisters have only been beaten five times in 60 matches and only twice in 29 matches at Wimbledon . Venus and Serena became the top ranked female doubles pair in the world after winning the French Open in Paris earlier this month .
Venus and Serena knocked out of ladies ' doubles at Wimbledon . Williams ' sisters beaten by Russians Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva . The US Open is the first Grand Slam tournament to be played on a Sunday since 2009.