Williams and Alcaraz Exit US Open Mixed Doubles

Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz have been knocked out of the US Open mixed doubles tournament, falling 5-4, 4-1 to Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in the quarter-finals. Bencic of Switzerland and Italy’s Cobolli moved on to Wednesday’s finale, when the semi-finals and final of the competition will be played back-to-back.

Williams and Alcaraz had opened their campaign with a win over Lloyd Glasspool and Emma Routliffe, but their run ended against a pair that combined Bencic’s experience with Cobolli’s strong singles season. The result ended the high-profile partnership’s bid to reach the closing stages of the event.

Bencic and Cobolli move into US Open finale day

Bencic said the challenge of facing Williams and Alcaraz was clear from the other side of the court. “We felt their aura for sure,” she told a television interviewer afterward. “It was an honor to play.”

Cobolli also acknowledged the scale of the occasion at Arthur Ashe Stadium. “Playing Serena and Carlos on Arthur Ashe is not easy,” he said. “So now maybe we take a beer.”

The Williams-Alcaraz pairing had been among the attention-grabbing teams in the mixed doubles draw. Williams was competing at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the first time since her 2022 retirement, while Alcaraz returned after a lengthy injury layoff. The pair wore coordinated purple and black jersey-style outfits and were seen smiling, bantering and joking during changeovers.

After the crowd had roared their arrival in Tuesday’s first-round match, the atmosphere was described as more subdued for their second outing. On court, Bencic and Cobolli secured the 5-4 opening set before taking the second 4-1 to complete the upset and book their place in the final day of the tournament.

Bencic arrived with notable pedigree, including an Olympic gold medal and previous singles wins over Williams. Cobolli has enjoyed a breakout singles season and was the French Open runner-up. Together, they denied Williams and Alcaraz the chance to extend a mixed doubles run that had begun with victory over the British-New Zealand pairing of Glasspool and Routliffe.

A mixed doubles draw full of new partnerships

The US Open’s mixed doubles format, now in its second year, has brought together doubles specialists and leading singles players in newly formed partnerships. The competition will have new champions after defending winners Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani lost to Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev, 1-4, 4-1, 11-9.

Other notable teams also faced difficult tests on Tuesday. Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka were eliminated by Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten in three sets. Siniakova and Patten were then beaten by Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina, who won their quarter-final 5-4, 4-5, 10-8 in a decisive tie-break.

Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik reached the semi-finals after beating Kristina Mladenovic and Marcelo Arevalo. Muchova said doubles specialists offered a different challenge, explaining that they “see the court” differently and keep opponents “more on our toes.”

For Williams and Alcaraz, however, the tournament is over after two matches. Bencic and Cobolli now advance with the opportunity to compete for the US Open mixed doubles title on Wednesday.