Tennis legends Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz will team up in the US Open mixed doubles competition, organisers announced on Saturday.
Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, will return to the US Open for the first time since 2022, partnering with the second-ranked Spaniard, who has won seven Grand Slam singles titles.
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced the mixed doubles pairings, with the 44-year-old Williams receiving one of the final wildcard entries into the main draw.
Williams, a six-time US Open singles champion, previously won the tournament’s mixed doubles title in 1998 alongside Max Mirnyi.
Her partnership with Alcaraz is among the final three wildcard entries for the mixed doubles event. Czech pair Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik, as well as Americans Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul, received the other wildcard spots.
The USTA also awarded the final women’s singles wildcard to American Sofia Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open champion.
Venus Williams, Serena’s 46-year-old sister, was previously awarded a wildcard for the women’s singles main draw. Serena and Venus recently reunited for women’s doubles at the Cincinnati Open, but they were eliminated in the first round.
The mixed doubles tournament will begin on Tuesday and conclude on Wednesday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, ahead of the main US Open tournament, which starts on August 30.
Meanwhile, withdrawals by Britain’s Jack Draper and Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina prompted their former partners, Americans Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz, to form a new mixed doubles partnership. The pair received direct entry into the main draw.
Russian player Diana Shnaider, who was left without a partner after Daniil Medvedev withdrew, will have an opportunity to find a new teammate before the draw is conducted on Sunday, ahead of Monday’s qualifying rounds.
