Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams Exit US Open Mixed Doubles in Quarterfinals

When Carlos Alcaraz was born on May 5, 2003, Serena Williams was already the world number one in tennis and held five Grand Slams in her career. Twenty-three years later, the Spanish star and the American legend teamed up for a run in the mixed doubles draw at Flushing Meadows, marking Williams’s first appearance at the tournament since 2022, as Diario de Mallorca reported.

Opening Match Thriller Against Established Doubles Specialists

The newly formed duo showed resilience right out of the gate in their opening fixture. Playing in a modified format featuring four-game sets and a golden point at 40-40, Alcaraz and Williams shook off a shaky start—which included a double fault and a dropped service game from the Spaniard—to overcome seasoned specialists Lloyd Glasspool and Erin Routliffe.

Glasspool and Routliffe boast deep credentials in the doubles discipline. The British player reached the world number one ranking in doubles and captured a Wimbledon title in 2025, while New Zealand’s Routliffe held the top WTA doubles ranking in July 2024 alongside US Open crowns in 2023 and 2025. Despite those accolades, the veteran pair faltered as Alcaraz and Williams mounted a comeback from the brink of defeat, saving two set points to clinch a 5-3, 4-1 victory.

“I just do whatever Serena tells me,” Alcaraz joked after taking the opening set, while Williams praised her young partner. “It’s fantastic to play with Carlos. I never thought something like this could happen. We’ve enjoyed ourselves so much,” the former number one reflected.

Quarterfinal Exit Against Cobolli and Bencic

The run came to an end in the quarterfinals, where Alcaraz and Williams fell 5-4, 4-1 to the Italian-Swiss tandem of Flavio Cobolli and Belinda Bencic. Cobolli and Bencic advanced to face Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina, who are married in real life, in the tournament’s next phase.

For Alcaraz, the mixed doubles campaign provided valuable competitive mileage. The Murcia native returned to official competition just four months after sustaining a wrist injury in Barcelona. Wearing a sleeveless Nike kit, Alcaraz drew massive crowds after arriving in New York, immediately establishing himself as a marquee attraction in the singles draw alongside Novak Djokovic in the absence of Jannik Sinner.

Alcaraz had previously participated in the mixed doubles alongside Emma Raducanu, falling in the opening round to Draper and Pegula. This time, playing alongside Williams—who won the 1998 mixed doubles title with Max Mirnyi—elevated the tournament’s profile.

High Stakes and Tournament Context

The lucrative exhibition format offered a massive payday for the competitors. According to reports from Diario de Mallorca, the eventual champions of the mixed doubles draw stand to claim a prize of one million dollars, 500,000 euros per player.

Elsewhere in the high-profile experimental draws, Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka suffered a swift opening-round exit, dropping a tight match to Henry Patten and Katerina Siniakova before Patten and Siniakova subsequently fell to Monfils and Svitolina.

Alcaraz now shifts his total focus back to the main singles draw at Flushing Meadows as the tournament progresses toward its decisive weekend.