08/22/26 10:05:00
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08/22 10:03 CDT Serena Williams will play mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz in
her return to the US Open
Serena Williams will play mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz in her return to
the US Open
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- Serena Williams will team up with Carlos Alcaraz to create a
powerhouse mixed doubles pair in her return to the U.S. Open.
The U.S. Tennis Association announced Saturday that Williams and Alcaraz had
been given a wild card into the tournament. The mixed doubles main draw begins
Tuesday, with the winning team sharing $1 million.
It will be Williams' first time playing at the U.S. Open since 2022. The
23-time Grand Slam singles champion returned to tennis this summer.
"Let's gooooo!" Alcaraz posted on X, with a fire emoji and tagging Williams.
Williams is not planning to play singles in New York. The USTA had been holding
one women's wild card, presumably in case Williams wanted it. However, the
tournament announced Saturday that it had been given to American Sofia Kenin,
the 2020 Australian Open champion.
Williams played singles at Wimbledon but sustained a knee injury in her
first-round loss. She played doubles with older sister Venus at the Cincinnati
Open, and they could still opt to play together at the U.S. Open.
Alcaraz announced this week he would return to defend his U.S. Open singles
title after being sidelined since April with a right wrist injury.
Serena Williams won a mixed doubles title at the U.S. Open even before winning
any of her six singles titles there. She teamed for the 1998 championship with
Max Mirnyi, who now works with top-ranked woman Aryna Sabalenka.
The mixed doubles tournament is far different now, as the USTA revamped it last
year to make it a two-day, 16-team event it hoped would draw top singles
players.
Few are bigger than Williams and Alcaraz, the two-time U.S. Open men's champion
who is ranked No. 2.
The USTA also announced a number of updates to the field after some players
withdrew from the competition.
Americans Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz will team up, after their previous
partners, Jack Draper and Elena Rybakina, pulled out with injuries. The teams
of Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul, along with Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik,
were given the remaining two wild cards into the main draw.
Also, Diana Shnaider remains in the field and will be given a chance to find a
new partner after Daniil Medvedev withdrew.
The current field:
Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, Pegula and Fritz, Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud,
Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien, two-time
defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, Alex Eala and Felix
Auger-Aliassime, Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Townsend and
Alexander Zverev, Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils, Williams and Alcaraz,
Muchova and Mensik, and Navarro and Paul.
The remaining two spots will be determined through an eight-team qualifying
tournament Monday. The USTA gave wild cards to the teams of Mirra Andreeva and
Andrey Rublev, and Peyton Stearns and Christian Harrison, to be part of that
field. It is otherwise largely made up of the traditional doubles specialists
who lost out on the chance to play in the U.S. Open last year, with direct
entry based on the players' combined singles ranking.
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