Serena teams up with Alcaraz at US Open

NEW YORK — Serena Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, and second-ranked Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, a seven-time Slam singles winner, will compete together in US Open mixed doubles, organizers announced.

The US Tennis Association announced mixed doubles pairings topped by 44-year-old American Williams making her return to the US Open for the first time since 2022.

But she won't be playing singles in Flushing Meadows.

The USTA also announced the last women's wildcard berth into the main draw was issued to American Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open winner.

When other wildcard spots were revealed on Tuesday, including one for Serena's 46-year-old sister Venus, there had been one berth not announced.

Serena Williams, a six-time US Open singles champion, captured the 1998 US Open mixed doubles title with Belarusian Max Mirnyi.

She and Alcaraz received one of the last three wildcard entries into the main draw for mixed doubles, with other spots going to Czechs Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik and Americans Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul.

Williams played women's doubles with Venus for the first time since 2022 at Cincinnati, but the pair lost in the first round.

Mixed doubles play will begin at the US Open on Tuesday and concludes on Wednesday at the National Tennis Center, where the regular US Open begins on August 30.

"Let's gooooo!" Alcaraz posted on X, with a fire emoji and tagging Williams.

With Britain's Jack Draper and Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan withdrawing from the US Open mixed doubles, their former partners — Americans Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz — re-paired together as a team and were given direct entry into the main draw.

Diana Shnaider, left without a partner when fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev withdrew, will have the chance to find a new partner and play before the draw is made on Sunday ahead of Monday's start of qualifying.

The current field

Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, Pegula and Fritz, Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud, Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien, twotime 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 wildcards 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 US Open last year, with direct entry based on the players' combined singles rankings.

Notes:

* What is Williams' Grand Slam mixed doubles history?

Williams won the 1998 Wimbledon and US Open mixed doubles titles with Mirnyi. She also reached the 1998 Roland Garros mixed doubles final with Argentine Luis Lobo and the 1999 Australian Open final with Mirnyi.

* How many times has Alcaraz played mixed doubles at the Grand Slams?

The 2026 US Open will be the second Grand Slam mixed doubles appearance for Alcaraz. The Spaniard made his major mixed doubles debut at last year's US Open, partnering with Emma Raducanu. The fan favorite duo lost to Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper in the first round.

* What other superstars has Williams partnered with in mixed doubles?

Williams teamed with Great Britain's Andy Murray to reach the third round at Wimbledon in 2019. The team was nicknamed "SerAndy" or "MurRena", depending on who you asked. Murray joked about preferring the former, but was happy to go with his partner's preference: "I think Serena is the boss, so whatever she says goes."

Williams also played with Lleyton Hewitt at his home Slam, with the pair bowing out in the first round of the 1998 Australian Open.

Like Serena and Alcaraz, both Murray and Hewitt are former singles world No 1s.

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