Williams and Alcaraz to open U.S. Open mixed doubles in New York on Aug. 25 against Routliffe and Glasspool

Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz will begin their U.S. Open mixed doubles campaign in New York on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, when they face Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool in the first round; the match will be Williams' first at the tournament since 2022. The mixed draw comprises 16 teams and uses combined singles rankings to determine seeding.

The top seeds in the 16-team field are Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, who were paired against Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten, the No. 1-ranked doubles players on their respective tours. The first round and quarterfinals are scheduled for Tuesday, August 25, while the semifinals and final are set for Wednesday, August 26. Seedings were determined by having the lowest combined singles ranking among entrants.

Williams and Alcaraz were drawn against a side that advanced from qualifying held on Monday, August 24; Routliffe and Glasspool earned their main-draw berth by winning two qualifying matches, both decided by match tiebreakers. Routliffe previously teamed with Gabriela Dabrowski to beat Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend for last year's U.S. Open women's doubles title, and the pairing also won the championship in 2023. Kristina Mladenovic and Marcelo Arevalo, who lost to Routliffe and Glasspool in their second qualifying match, claimed the remaining main-draw spot and will face Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik.

Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic had been slated to play Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe, but Tiafoe withdrew from mixed doubles on Monday after losing to Arthur Fils in the Cincinnati Open final on Sunday, August 23, a development that allowed a team that had lost in qualifying to enter the draw. Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten won both of their qualifying matches to reach the main draw.

An eight-team qualifying tournament was added this year to give traditional doubles specialists an avenue into the U.S. Open mixed doubles field. When the mixed event was overhauled last year with a $1 million prize for the winners, direct entry was based on singles rankings, which effectively excluded many players who concentrate on doubles.

Williams is not planning to play singles in New York, while Alcaraz, who has been sidelined since April with a right wrist injury, will return to defend his singles title.