08/25/26 06:17:00
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08/25 18:15 CDT Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz knocked out of mixed doubles
at the U.S. Open
Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz knocked out of mixed doubles at the U.S. Open
By STEPHEN WHYNO
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- Serena Williams getting back on the court at the U.S. Open
after a four-year absence and Carlos Alcaraz returning to competitive tennis
after being out the past four months with injury brought cheers and nostalgia
to the Grand Slam tournament.
The celebration was short-lived.
After winning their debut playing together, Williams and Alcaraz got knocked
out in the mixed doubles quarterfinals by Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 5-4
(4), 4-1 on Tuesday. Cobolli before the match called their opponents "the queen
of tennis and the king of now."
The star-studded duo with a combined eight U.S. Open singles championships
certainly earned that praise. Williams and Alcaraz bounced back from a slow
start in the first round to defeat Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool 5-3, 4-1,
much to the delight of fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium who were clearly on
their side.
"I never expected to be back on this court," Williams said after her first
match at Flushing Meadows since 2022. "I never thought this would happen."
Now the question is whether she will seek an encore performance in women's
doubles alongside older sister Venus. They won the U.S. Open twice among their
14 Grand Slam doubles titles together.
Serena, who is back playing tennis at age 44, does not plan to play singles.
Williams in her latest mixed doubles cameo --- she won the U.S. Open with Max
Mirnyi in 1998 --- hit some vintage shots that looked straight out of her
prime. Early on, she carried Alcaraz, the 23-year-old defending champion who's
ranked third in the world in men's singles and was clearly rusty in his first
competitive action since April 14.
"I think everybody could see: I double-faulted on the first point," said
Alcaraz, who missed the French Open and Wimbledon because of a right wrist
injury and wore a sleeve on that arm. "I was really, really nervous. I was out
for four months ... I almost forget how it feels."
Fans chanted, "Come on, Carlos!" and "Let's go, Serena, let's go!" But the pair
was overpowered by Bencic and Cobolli, letting a first-set tiebreaker slip away
and getting dominated in the second.
Cobolli acknowledged being tight because Williams and Alcaraz were on the other
side. Bencic said Williams tried to intimidate her --- by saying she speaks
Italian better.
"It was surreal to play against Carlos," Bencic said. "Sometimes I was just
standing at the volley or the return, and I was like, ?How did I end up on this
court?' I don't really know. Just a huge honor. Obviously you can feel both of
their auras."
The matches in the first three rounds feature sets to four games, with a
tiebreaker at 4-all and a 10-point tiebreaker instead of a third set. Only the
final on Wednesday night will resemble a regular match, with traditional sets
to six games.
The champions get $1 million in the second year of the new mixed doubles format
that is meant to attract top players. Joining Bencic and Cobolli in the
semifinals were Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils; Mirra Andreeva and Andrey
Rublev; and Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik.
___
See AP's full tennis coverage here
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