Serena Williams makes her U.S. Open return alongside Carlos Alcaraz in a mixed doubles opening match against reigning women's doubles champion Erin Routliffe and partner Lloyd Glasspool.
Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz will begin their U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament campaign on Tuesday against qualifying duo Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool. The match marks Williams' first appearance at the U.S. Open since 2022. Her opponent, Routliffe, won the women's doubles title last year alongside Gabriela Dabrowski and also captured the championship in 2023.
Routliffe and Glasspool earned their spot in the main draw by winning two qualifying matches on Monday, both requiring match tiebreakers. Williams will not be competing in the singles event in New York, while Alcaraz is returning to defend his singles title after being sidelined with a right wrist injury since April.
Top seeds Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic face a challenging draw against Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten, the No. 1-ranked doubles players on their respective tours. Sabalenka and Djokovic were originally drawn to play Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe, but Tiafoe withdrew on Monday after losing the Cincinnati Open final to Arthur Fils on Sunday.
Siniakova and Patten reached the main draw through an eight-team qualifying tournament introduced this year to allow doubles specialists to compete. The tournament was overhauled last year with direct entry based on singles rankings and a $1 million winners' prize. In another matchup, Kristina Mladenovic and Marcelo Arevalo secured a spot to play Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik. First-round matches and quarterfinals take place on Tuesday, with the semifinals and final scheduled for Wednesday.
Reporting sourced from The Hindu Sport. Photo courtesy The Hindu Sport.