Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz eliminated from U.S. Open mixed doubles; Djokovic and Sabalenka also exit

Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz were beaten in the U.S. Open mixed doubles quarterfinals by Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 5-4 (4), 4-1 on Tuesday (August 27, 2026), while top seeds Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka were earlier eliminated.

Williams returned to the U.S. Open after a four-year absence and Alcaraz was making his first competitive appearance since a four-month layoff with injury, a pairing that combined for eight U.S. Open singles championships between them. Williams, 44, does not plan to play singles; she has previously won the U.S. Open mixed title with Max Mirnyi in 1998 and the article raises the question of whether she will seek to play women's doubles with her sister Venus.

Bencic and Cobolli prevailed in the quarterfinal, with the Williams–Alcaraz duo losing a first-set tiebreak and then being outplayed in the second set. Cobolli said their opponents were “the queen of tennis and the king of now.” Bencic added: “It was surreal to play against Carlos. Sometimes I was just standing at the volley or the return, and I was like, How did I end up on this court?' I don't really know. Just a huge honor. Obviously you can feel both of their auras.”

Williams and Alcaraz had won their opening match together, beating Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool 5-3, 4-1 in front of a supportive crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Williams said after that match: “I never expected to be back on this court,” and “I never thought this would happen.” Early in their run she produced shots described as vintage and initially carried Alcaraz.

Alcaraz acknowledged his own rustiness, saying: “I think everybody could see: I double-faulted on the first point,” and adding, “I was really, really nervous. I was out for four months ... I almost forget how it feels.” The article notes he missed the French Open and Wimbledon because of a right wrist injury and wore a sleeve on that arm; fans chanted “Come on, Carlos!” and “Let's go, Serena, let's go!” during their matches.

Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka, the No. 1 seeds, were defeated by Henry Patten and Katerina Siniakova 1-4 4-2 10-2, with Siniakova sealing the upset by hitting an ace out wide on match point. The mixed doubles competition was reworked last year to encourage participation from top singles players, moving to a two-day event and adopting a scoring format in the first three rounds with sets to four games, a tiebreaker at 4-all and a 10-point tiebreaker instead of a third set; only the final uses traditional sets to six games. Jakub Mensik said: “I will say if we play until basically regular rules, until six games, will be much more difficult.”

Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils became the first team into the mixed doubles semifinals by edging Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten 5-4 (6), 4-5 (3) (10-8). They will face Bencic and Cobolli in one semifinal; Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev will meet Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik in the other. The winning team will earn $1 million, and the article notes this tournament is Monfils' final Grand Slam before retiring; after their victory he said: “Happy wife, happy life.”

The semifinals are set, with Svitolina and Monfils versus Bencic and Cobolli on Wednesday and Andreeva and Rublev paired against Muchova and Mensik in the remaining match; the winners will claim the $1 million prize for the mixed doubles champions.