Serena Williams will compete at the US Open Mixed Doubles Championship, partnering with Carlos Alcaraz, the USTA announced Saturday. Two additional teams have also been revealed for the August 24-26 event: Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik, and Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul.
This will mark Williams’ competitive return to the US Open, where she last played in 2022. The 23-time Grand Slam champion and six-time US Open singles champion won the US Open Mixed Doubles title in 1998 alongside Max Mirnyi.
Earlier this week, we revealed 11 of the 16 teams set to compete in the second edition of the reimagined championship. At the time, three main-draw spots were still expected to be awarded as wildcards, while two additional spots would go to qualifiers. We now know all three main-draw wildcard teams, as well as the two teams receiving wildcard spots in qualifying.
There have been several changes to the lineup involving previously announced players:
- Following Elena Rybakina’s withdrawal, Jessica Pegula will partner with Taylor Fritz as direct entrants into the main draw.
- The teams of Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev and Peyton Stearns and Christian Harrison received the two wildcard entries into the eight-team qualifying draw.
- Diana Shnaider, who was previously entered directly into the main draw with Daniil Medvedev, will have the opportunity to re-pair and retain direct entry before the draw is made mid-afternoon Sunday.
- Following Jelena Ostapenko’s withdrawal, Marcelo Arevalo has re-paired with Kristina Mladenovic. The new team retained direct entry into the qualifying draw.
2026 US Open Mixed Doubles Championship: Confirmed teams
MAIN DRAW
Direct entrants
- Aryna Sabalenka/Novak Djokovic
- Jessica Pegula/Taylor Fritz
- Iga Swiatek/Casper Ruud
- Belinda Bencic/Flavio Cobolli
- Amanda Anisimova/Learner Tien
- Diana Shnaider/TBA
Wildcards
- Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori
- Alex Eala/Felix Auger-Aliassime
- Leylah Fernandez/Frances Tiafoe
- Taylor Townsend/Alexander Zverev
- Elina Svitolina/Gael Monfils
- Serena Williams/Carlos Alcaraz
- Karolina Muchova/Jakub Mensik
- Emma Navarro/Tommy Paul
Qualifiers (2)
QUALIFYING
Direct entrants*
- Katerina Siniakova/Henry Patten
- Gabriela Dabrowski/Harri Heliövaara
- Luisa Stefani/Neal Skupski
- Aleksandra Krunic/Mate Pavic
- Kristina Mladenovic/Marcelo Arevalo
- Erin Routliffe/Lloyd Glasspool
Wildcards
- Mirra Andreeva/Andrey Rublev
- Peyton Stearns/Christian Harrison
*Direct entry into qualifying was based on the best combined singles or doubles ranking.
The event will feature a unique fast-paced format: qualifying through the semifinals will use best-of-three sets with sets played to four games, no-ad scoring, and a 10-point match tiebreak in place of a third set. The final will follow a traditional six-game set format, also with no-ad scoring and a 10-point match tiebreak deciding the third set.
