Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz Win US Open Mixed Doubles Debut, Advance to Quarterfinals

Serena Williams, playing her first match at the US Open since 2022, teamed with Carlos Alcaraz to beat qualifiers Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool 5-3, 4-1 in the first round of mixed doubles at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026. The pair trailed 1-3 in the first set before rallying to win, and the victory sent them into the quarterfinals the same day, against fourth-seeded Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli.

Key facts

Result: Williams and Alcaraz beat Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool 5-3, 4-1
Where: Arthur Ashe Stadium, US Open
When: Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2026
Next match: Quarterfinals against fourth-seeded Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, same day
Semifinals and final: Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026

How the mixed doubles format works

Williams and Alcaraz were given a wild card into the 16-team mixed doubles draw, announced Aug. 22, 2026. The event uses a shortened format introduced to draw in top singles stars.

Sets are played to four games, with a tiebreak if the score reaches 4-4
Break points use no-ad scoring
A 10-point match tiebreak takes the place of a third set

Williams returns to the US Open

For Williams, the match marked a return to the tournament where she was widely assumed to have played her last competitive match in 2022. She has never formally announced her retirement from tennis, and this US Open appearance is her fifth tournament since she resumed competing in June 2026. She is entered only in mixed doubles — ESPN has reported she will not play singles at this year’s US Open.

It is also her first Grand Slam mixed doubles appearance since partnering Andy Murray at the 2019 Wimbledon Championships, where they reached the third round. Williams has won two Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in her career, both with Max Mirnyi, at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1998.

Alcaraz back from a wrist injury

The match was Alcaraz’s first competitive appearance since a right wrist injury sidelined him in April 2026. He was hurt during his first-round match at the Barcelona Open on April 14, 2026, and the injury kept him out of both the French Open and Wimbledon. He confirmed around Aug. 20 that he would return for the US Open, where he is the defending men’s singles champion — he beat Jannik Sinner in last year’s final — and enters as the No. 2 seed, aiming to become the first man to win back-to-back men’s singles titles at the US Open since Roger Federer’s run from 2004 to 2008.

This is not Alcaraz’s first mixed doubles appearance at the tournament. In 2025, the event’s debut year, he partnered Emma Raducanu and lost in the first round, 4-2, 4-2, to top seeds Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula.

What’s next

Williams and Alcaraz face Bencic and Cobolli in the quarterfinals; the result of that match was not available as of August 25, 2026. The mixed doubles semifinals and final are both scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2026, at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

Other big names in the draw

The draw has pulled in other singles stars who don’t normally play doubles at majors:

Novak Djokovic, paired with Aryna Sabalenka
Alexander Zverev, paired with Taylor Townsend
Venus Williams, Serena’s sister, competing separately with Alexander Bublik on a different wild card

The mixed doubles tournament runs ahead of the main US Open singles draw, which begins Aug. 30 and runs through Sept. 13, 2026.