US Open Mixed Doubles 2026: Serena Williams and Alcaraz

It runs over three days during Fan Week, before the singles begin. Qualifying is Monday, August 24, an eight-team draw that sends two pairs through. The 16-team main draw is played on Tuesday, August 25 (first and second rounds) and Wednesday, August 26 (semi-finals and final), on Arthur Ashe Stadium. The singles main draw only starts on August 30. Sources: USTA, ATP Tour.

Yes. The pair received a wild card announced on Friday, August 21, 2026, one of the final invitations into the draw. Serena Williams, 44, returned to competition in June 2026 after nearly four years away, playing doubles at Queen's and then Berlin, and she is not entered in the US Open singles, so this is her only event in New York. Alcaraz is playing the singles as the No. 2 seed. He reacted to the news on X with "Let's gooooo!" and a fire emoji. Sources: USTA, ATP Tour, ESPN, Olympics.com.

Short and fast, designed for a stadium crowd. From qualifying through to the semi-finals, matches are best of three sets with sets to four games, no-ad scoring, a tie-break at four games all, and a 10-point match tie-break instead of a third set. The final is longer: best of three sets to six games, still with no-ad scoring, tie-breaks at 6-6 and a 10-point match tie-break in place of a deciding set. Sources: ATP Tour, Sky Sports.

$1 million to the winning pair, split between the two players. It is a striking figure for a two-day event and is the main reason top singles players enter. The prize sits outside the record $108 million purse announced for the 2026 US Open singles and doubles. Sources: ATP Tour, Yahoo Sports.

The 16-team main draw was published on August 24 and the first-round pairings are: Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic (1) vs Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe (WC); Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils (WC) vs Alexandra Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime; Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli (4) vs Taylor Townsend and Alexander Zverev (WC); Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz (WC) vs a qualifying pair; Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik vs a qualifying pair; Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul (WC) vs Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien (3); Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev vs Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori (WC); Diana Shnaider and Casper Ruud vs Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz (2). Sources: LTA, usopen.org.

Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori of Italy, the one genuine doubles specialist pair in the field. They are going for a third consecutive US Open mixed title, having won the old format and then the revamped star-driven version. Their presence is the counter-argument to the criticism that the new event has pushed out actual doubles players. Sources: ATP Tour, Yahoo Sports.

The USTA rebuilt the event in 2025 to put singles stars on court in front of full stadiums during Fan Week, rather than run a lightly attended draw alongside the singles. The trade-off drew a year of complaints from doubles specialists, who found themselves squeezed out by pairs picked on combined singles rankings. The 2026 answer is the new eight-team qualifying tournament on August 24, which opens two main-draw places to teams outside the singles elite. Sources: ATP Tour, Sky Sports.

No. Sinner was entered but withdrew along with his singles entry on August 21, because of the right knee injury that also rules him out of the singles draw. He is staying in Europe to recover, with the Asian swing in Beijing and Shanghai as his target. Sources: ATP Tour, Gulf News.

Yes, and they are the highest-profile ranking-based entry rather than a wild card. Sabalenka is the world No. 1 and two-time defending US Open singles champion, Djokovic is the most decorated player in the field. The pairing was among the first confirmed when the entry list was published. Sources: ATP Tour, Olympics.com.

Yes, in the mixed doubles, on a wild card alongside Alexander Bublik. It means both Williams sisters are on the Arthur Ashe court in the same two-day event, in separate teams, with Serena partnering Carlos Alcaraz. Sources: USTA, Yahoo Sports.

The main draw is played in Arthur Ashe Stadium at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Monday's qualifying is on the Grandstand during Fan Week. In the United States, ESPN platforms carry US Open coverage, with Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Eurosport across much of continental Europe. Main-draw mixed doubles sessions are ticketed separately, with entry-level seats reported at around $68. Sources: USTA, ESPN, NBC Miami.

Sixteen in the main draw. Eight get in on combined singles rankings, the rest come from wild cards, and two places are reserved for the qualifiers who come through Monday's eight-team play-off (six direct entries plus two wild cards in that qualifying draw). With a 16-team bracket and short sets, the whole championship fits into two afternoons and evenings. Sources: ATP Tour, USTA.

A qualifying pair. Eight teams played an all-day qualifying competition on Monday, August 24 for the last two main-draw places, and the wild card pairing of Williams and Alcaraz drew one of them. Main-draw play starts on Tuesday, August 25, split between Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium, with the first and second rounds on Tuesday and the semi-finals and final on Wednesday, August 26. Sources: LTA, usopen.org.

Four, seeded on the pairs' combined singles rankings: Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic (1), Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz (2), Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien (3) and Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli (4). Because the seeding uses singles rankings, the actual doubles specialists in the field, including defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, are unseeded. Sources: LTA, usopen.org.