Serena Williams made a triumphant return to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday, stepping back onto the court 1,453 days after her final singles match at Flushing Meadows. Partnering with seven-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz in the tournament’s revamped mixed doubles competition, Williams drew massive roars from a crowd of about 15,000 spectators. Public-address announcer Andy Taylor introduced the 44-year-old American and her Spanish partner as a powerhouse tandem carrying 30 Grand Slam singles titles combined—a record for a mixed-doubles team at a major.
Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz Thrill New York Crowd on US Open Return
The high-profile pairing was part of a redesigned mixed doubles championship structured to prioritize star singles players through abbreviated matches, a 16-team field, and a $1 million top prize. Early rounds utilized four-game sets, no-ad scoring, and a 10-point decider. For Alcaraz, the event marked his first competitive action since April after recovering from a wrist injury that forced him to miss the French Open and Wimbledon. Wearing a white sleeve on his right arm, Alcaraz admitted to early rust and nerves, double-faulting on the opening point and falling behind two games to none against Great Britain’s Lloyd Glasspool and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe.
Williams carried the team through much of the opening set, winning 15 points to Alcaraz’s nine. The pair eventually found their footing, winning eight of the final nine games to secure a 5-3, 4-1 victory. I never expected to be back on this court,
Williams said after the opening win, according to The Guardian. Alcaraz added during a change of ends: I’m playing next to the one and only Serena Williams, so what else can I do? Just enjoy and try to do the things she told me to do.
Quarter-Final Exit and Format Upheaval
The momentum from their opening win was short-lived. Later on Tuesday, Williams and Alcaraz faced Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals. Bencic and Cobolli halted the American-Spanish run with a 5-4 (4), 4-1 victory in a contest that lasted 55 minutes. Despite the abrupt exit, Williams displayed sharp form at the net, even serving the opening game of the quarter-final ahead of Alcaraz—a rare occurrence in mixed doubles.
The revamped event’s fast-paced format caught several other top-seeded singles stars by surprise. Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabarelka were eliminated in their opening match by Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten. Meanwhile, married couple Elina Svitolina and Gaël Monfils advanced deeper into the tournament, defeating Siniakova and Patten 5-4 (6), 4-5 (3), 10-8 to reach the semi-finals. Monfils, playing in his final Grand Slam tournament before retirement, joked about their run: Happy wife, happy life,
as reported by The Guardian.
A Brief Yet Nostalgic US Open Stint
Williams’ return to New York generated significant anticipation, particularly after organizers kept a singles wildcard open for her before awarding it to Sofia Kenin. Although her participation was limited to two mixed-doubles matches on a single afternoon, her presence successfully energized the grounds during qualifying week, drawing main-draw crowds reminiscent of the tournament’s middle weekend.
The historic context of Williams’ career at Flushing Meadows remains formidable. Over her career, she has captured nine titles at the US Open: six in women’s singles, two in women’s doubles alongside Venus Williams, and one mixed doubles title in 1998 with Max Mirnyi. Alcaraz, who won US Open men’s singles titles in 2022 and 2025, praised the unique opportunity to share the court with the American legend as he eased back into competitive play.
