Serena Williams and Alcaraz Team Up for US Open Mixed Doubles 2026

Summary

✓Reviewed by Laura Bennett Serena Williams will return to the U.S. Open in mixed doubles alongside world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, the Associated Press reported on August 22, 2026 — a pairing that reunites one of the most decorated champions...

6 min read

Table of contents

1 The Pairing That Stopped the Tennis World
2 Williams’s Return to Grand Slam Competition
3 What This Means for Alcaraz’s U.S. Open Campaign
4 Broader U.S. Open Picture on August 22
5 Key Facts at a Glance
6 Historical Context: Grand Slam Mixed Doubles as a Stage for Legends
7 What to Watch
8 Related Coverage
9 Sources

Reviewed by Laura Bennett

Serena Williams will return to the U.S. Open in mixed doubles alongside world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, the Associated Press reported on August 22, 2026 — a pairing that reunites one of the most decorated champions in tennis history with the sport’s reigning standard-bearer on the biggest American stage in the sport.

The announcement, confirmed through an AP dispatch carried by multiple outlets including The Lethbridge Herald, landed on the opening weekend of the 2026 U.S. Open, instantly transforming the mixed doubles draw into one of the most-watched events at Flushing Meadows. Williams, who owns 23 Grand Slam singles titles and four U.S. Open singles crowns, has not competed at Flushing Meadows since her singles farewell at the 2022 edition of the tournament.

The Pairing That Stopped the Tennis World

According to the AP report, Williams will team up with Alcaraz to create what the wire service described as “a powerhouse mixed doubles pair” for the 2026 tournament. Alcaraz, the Spanish two-time Wimbledon champion and current world No. 1, has been known for embracing high-profile exhibition and promotional events alongside competitive commitments, but a Grand Slam mixed doubles partnership with Williams marks a genuinely rare convergence of eras. For tennis fans in the United States, the combination carries significant emotional weight: Williams built her legend at the U.S. Open across more than two decades, while Alcaraz has positioned himself as the face of the men’s game through the mid-2020s.

No official statement from Williams’s camp or the United States Tennis Association had been released beyond the AP dispatch as of August 22, 2026, and tournament organisers had not yet published the mixed doubles draw order for the Williams-Alcaraz pairing. The U.S. Open runs through September 7, 2026 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing, New York.

Williams’s Return to Grand Slam Competition

Williams stepped away from professional singles competition following the 2022 U.S. Open, where she lost in the third round to Ajla Tomljanovic in a match watched by an estimated 3.4 million U.S. viewers — the most-watched late-night U.S. Open match in ESPN history at that point. Her return to Flushing Meadows in the mixed doubles format, rather than singles, signals a competitive but lower-pressure re-entry into Grand Slam tennis.

Mixed doubles at the U.S. Open operates under a no-ad scoring format with a match tiebreak in lieu of a third set, reducing the physical load compared to the best-of-three singles format. For Williams, now 44 years old, that structure offers a realistic pathway to meaningful competition at a tournament she has won four times in singles (2002, 2008, 2012, 2014) and multiple times in doubles alongside her sister Venus.

What This Means for Alcaraz’s U.S. Open Campaign

Alcaraz enters the 2026 U.S. Open as one of the leading contenders in the men’s singles draw. Participating in mixed doubles alongside singles adds scheduling complexity, as both events can overlap across the tournament’s two-week span. Grand Slam mixed doubles are typically scheduled to avoid direct conflicts with a player’s singles commitments, but deep singles runs can create genuine fixture congestion.

Whether Alcaraz’s decision to enter mixed doubles reflects supreme confidence in his ability to manage the combined workload — or a deliberate choice to prioritise the cultural moment of partnering Williams — remains unclear from the initial reports. His management had not issued a formal statement by the time of publication on August 22, 2026.

For context on how the U.S. Open fits into the broader tennis calendar and what the mixed doubles format demands, our earlier breakdown of Wimbledon 2026 contenders and match dynamics covers the tactical patterns that define elite Grand Slam performance.

Tennis mixed doubles partners walking onto a hardcourt stadium court at the US Open

Broader U.S. Open Picture on August 22

The Williams-Alcaraz news broke on the opening weekend of the 2026 U.S. Open, with first-round singles matches already underway. According to the WTOP sports broadcast schedule for August 22–23, U.S. Open coverage is running across multiple broadcast windows through the tournament’s opening days, reflecting the event’s status as a marquee late-summer sports property in the U.S. television market.

The mixed doubles draw at Grand Slams typically begins in the first week of the tournament, meaning Williams and Alcaraz could be scheduled to play as early as August 25–27, 2026, though the official order of play had not been confirmed as of this report.

Key Facts at a Glance

Detail	Information
Event	2026 U.S. Open, mixed doubles
Partners	Serena Williams & Carlos Alcaraz
Venue	USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, Flushing, New York
Tournament dates	August 22 – September 7, 2026
Williams’s Grand Slam singles titles	23
Williams’s U.S. Open singles titles	4 (2002, 2008, 2012, 2014)
Alcaraz’s current ATP ranking	World No. 1 (as of August 2026)
Source of announcement	Associated Press, August 22, 2026

Historical Context: Grand Slam Mixed Doubles as a Stage for Legends

Mixed doubles at the Grand Slams has historically served as a venue where the sport’s biggest names add an extra competitive dimension to a major tournament. Martina Navratilova, for example, won the 1985 U.S. Open mixed doubles with Heinz Gunthardt years after her singles peak. More recently, Andy Murray won the 2017 Wimbledon mixed doubles alongside Serena Williams herself — a pairing that generated enormous public interest and demonstrated that the format can carry genuine star power even when neither player is competing at the peak of their singles form.

The Williams-Alcaraz partnership at the 2026 U.S. Open is already being discussed in similar terms: a legitimate competitive entry that doubles as a moment of generational crossover. Williams’s competitive record in doubles is formidable — she has won 14 Grand Slam women’s doubles titles, all alongside Venus — and her baseline game remains formidable at any level of play.

What to Watch

Several storylines will develop as the 2026 U.S. Open mixed doubles draw progresses:

First-round scheduling: When and against whom Williams and Alcaraz play their opening mixed doubles match will determine early momentum and spectator demand for the event.
Alcaraz’s singles form: If Alcaraz advances deep in the men’s singles draw simultaneously, the scheduling logistics of running two events will be closely monitored by tournament officials and the ATP.
Williams’s physical condition: Her last competitive Grand Slam match was in 2022. How she performs under match conditions against top-level opposition will be one of the most closely watched stories at Flushing Meadows.
Crowd and ratings response: The 2022 U.S. Open draw proved Williams still commands record viewership. Expect the USTA to schedule Williams-Alcaraz mixed doubles matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium if logistically possible.
Official USTA draw announcement: The mixed doubles schedule was not yet published at the time of this report; confirmation of their opponents and match date is expected within 24–48 hours.

This is a developing story. Daily Match Report will update with confirmed draw information and match results as the 2026 U.S. Open mixed doubles competition gets underway.