Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz Receive US Open Mixed Doubles Wildcard

Serena Williams will partner Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open mixed doubles after the pair received a wildcard into the main draw. BBC Sport reported the entry on Saturday, with the revamped competition scheduled for August 24-26, four days before the singles draw begins at Flushing Meadows.

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The pairing brings together two of the sport’s most decorated players. Williams owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles, while she and Alcaraz have won 44 major singles and doubles titles between them. Her appearance will form part of a comeback that began in June, four years after she said she was evolving away from tennis.

Williams has played three doubles matches since returning. She also resumed singles competition at Wimbledon, where Maya Joint defeated her in three sets. Her most recent outing came alongside her older sister Venus in doubles at the Cincinnati Open on Monday, her first match since sustaining a knee injury at Wimbledon.

Entry to the US Open mixed doubles field has been divided between direct qualification and wildcards. The six teams with the strongest combined singles rankings earned direct places, while eight additional pairs were awarded main-draw wildcards. Defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori are the only specialist doubles team among the wildcard recipients.

Several other prominent combinations are in the field. World number one Aryna Sabalenka will play with 24-time major singles champion Novak Djokovic, while Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina is paired with Taylor Fritz. Six-time major champion Iga Swiatek will team with Casper Ruud, and Elina Svitolina will play alongside her husband, Gael Monfils, in what is set to be the Frenchman’s final Grand Slam before retirement. Britain’s Henry Patten and top-ranked women’s doubles player Katerina Siniakova must advance through an eight-team qualifying round.

The US Open changed the mixed doubles format last year to attract more singles players, a move criticized by some doubles specialists. Matches before the final require four games to win a set, use no-ad scoring and replace a third set with a 10-point match tiebreak. Errani and Vavassori, who publicly opposed the overhaul, nevertheless won the inaugural edition under the new format and collected $1 million in prize money.