Serena Williams Returns, Alcaraz Back From Injury: US Open Mixed Doubles Delivers Blockbuster First Round
Serena Williams will play competitive tennis for the first time in four years at the 2026 US Open mixed doubles, partnered by Carlos Alcaraz, who is himself returning from a four-month wrist injury lay-off. Their first-round opponents? Britain's Lloyd Glasspool and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe, who booked their main-draw place by beating Marcelo Arevalo and Kristina Mladenovic in qualifying (BBC Sport).
That is not even the headline tie. The top half of the draw pits the men's and women's doubles world number ones — Henry Patten of Britain and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic — against Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka. Patten and Siniakova reached the main draw by beating Americans Peyton Stearns and Christian Harrison in straight sets in qualifying (BBC Sport).
The US Open revamped its mixed doubles format ahead of the 2026 edition to lure singles stars into the field. The top six pairs by combined singles rankings receive direct entry; another eight receive wildcards, the invitations tournaments hand to big names who would not otherwise qualify. The entire event runs across three days in the week before the main draw, with a shortened scoring system: four games to win a set (instead of the usual six), no 'advantage' scoring — meaning no deuce-then-ad point, just sudden death at 40-40 — and a 10-point match tiebreak instead of a third set (BBC Sport).
What that means in practice is shorter matches, sharper margins, and very little time for a pair to find rhythm. One loose service game can decide a set. For a scratch partnership like Williams and Alcaraz, who have never played together competitively, that cuts both ways.
Alcaraz has not played a match since spring, his wrist having kept him off court since April. Williams, now 44, last competed professionally in 2022. Neither will have touched a ball in anger for months when they step out against Glasspool and Routliffe, who are seasoned doubles specialists and tournament-hardened.
For British fans, there is a second thread to follow. Heather Watson entered the US Open women's singles qualifying draw at entry No. 450, using a protected ranking of No. 165 — an injury provision that lets players who have been sidelined re-enter at their pre-injury ranking. Watson's career-high singles mark is No. 38, with 148 tour-level wins to her name (usopen.org).
Watson beat Claire in her 2026 qualifying opener, according to BBC Sport's scores page, but was then scheduled against Ekaterine Gorgodze — the player who knocked her out of qualifying in 2025, when Watson failed to reach the US Open main draw for a fourth successive year (BBC Sport).
In the men's qualifying, top seed Arthur Cazaux opened with a 6-4, 6-1 win over Mark Lajal, while Britain's Daniel Evans, the 18th seed, fell in his first match (usopen.org).
The mixed doubles begins in the days before the main draw starts. Two champions, no clock, and nowhere to hide.
