Williams and Alcaraz brace for qualifier test
Drawn against unknown doubles specialists, the pairing must recalibrate patterns fast while a loaded bracket reveals its own tactical puzzles on hard courts.
NEW YORK -- Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz will have to wait a little longer to learn their first opponent in the U.S. Open mixed doubles championship. The pair was drawn Sunday to face one of the teams that advances from the eight-team qualifying tournament that will be played Monday. Williams will be returning to the U.S. Open for the first time since 2022. The six-time singles champion and Alcaraz, who has won the men’s title twice, were awarded a wild card into the 16-team tournament Saturday.
Qualifier threat demands pattern changes
The first round and quarterfinals of the mixed doubles are Tuesday, with the semifinals and final on Wednesday. The winning team shares $1 million. Facing one of the qualifiers will be a tough assignment, because most of the players in the qualifying tournament are doubles specialists. The qualifying tournament was added this year to give those types of players a chance to compete after they were almost entirely shut out last year when the U.S. Tennis Association, seeking more star power, revamped the mixed doubles and based direct entry on the players’ rankings in singles.
Two-time defending women’s champion Aryna Sabalenka and 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic earned the No. 1 seed after having the lowest combined singles ranking among the teams. They will face the pair of Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe in their first match. The low combined ranking grants them the top spot yet also signals they must blend Sabalenka’s heavy crosscourt baseline pressure with Djokovic’s slice backhand control to blunt Fernandez’s inside-in returns.
Americans Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz are seeded No. 2 and will open against Diana Shnaider and Casper Ruud. Ruud was scheduled to play again with Iga Swiatek, after they reached the final in 2025. But Swiatek withdrew and Schnaider needed a partner after Daniil Medvedev pulled out. Pegula and Fritz therefore meet a last-minute pairing whose inside-out forehand patterns remain untested on this surface speed.
Seeding math sets up early tests
The other first-round matches: Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils, who are married, vs. Alex Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime; Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli vs. Taylor Townsend and Alexander Zverev; Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik vs. the other team from the qualifying tournament; Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul vs. Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien; Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev vs. two-time defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori; and Shnaider and Ruud vs. Pegula and Fritz.
Each pairing carries its own math of combined singles rankings that dictates court positioning and who takes the first strike on serve returns. On the hard courts the faster bounce rewards teams that can shift from crosscourt rallies into down-the-line winners without telegraphing the change. Williams and Alcaraz will likely lean on Alcaraz’s heavy topspin inside-out forehand to pull qualifiers wide before Williams finishes with her flat crosscourt drive. The surface also amplifies the value of a strong second serve that keeps opponents from establishing their own 1–2 pattern early in the point.
Hard court tempo favors aggressive returns
Errani and Vavassori, the two-time defending champions, must guard against Andreeva’s quick feet and Rublev’s flat pace when they meet in the opening round. Muchova and Mensik, meanwhile, will test their net instincts against whichever qualifier emerges, knowing that any hesitation on overheads could hand the point to specialists accustomed to mixed-doubles movement. Navarro and Paul enter with clean movement patterns that could exploit Anisimova and Tien’s occasional lapses in court coverage. Bencic and Cobolli will need to vary spin against Townsend and Zverev’s power baseline game. Svitolina and Monfils bring married-court chemistry that may translate into seamless poaching at the net against Eala and Auger-Aliassime. The entire bracket therefore hinges on who adapts fastest to the hard-court tempo once the qualifiers are known.