Tennis great Serena Williams of the United States will team up with second-ranked men's player Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in the mixed doubles at the US Open, the year's final Grand Slam, the Associated Press reported on the 23rd Korea time. The mixed doubles main draw runs from the 25th to the 26th.
Williams stepped away from the court after the 2022 US Open before returning last June. Williams and Alcaraz will compete in the tournament on wild cards. Williams, who was knocked out in the first round of the women's singles at Wimbledon last month, will not play singles at this event. The AP reported that Williams could also enter the women's doubles alongside her older sister, Venus Williams.
The US Open mixed doubles format underwent a major change last year. To draw top singles players and raise its profile, the event was reworked into a two-day competition among 16 pairs.
This year, stars including women's world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, 24-time Grand Slam men's singles champion and "legend" Novak Djokovic of Serbia, and Americans Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz will pair up for the mixed doubles. Elina Svitolina of Ukraine will team with her husband, Gael Monfils of France, who has announced his retirement, in a bid for the title.
Alcaraz, who has been working on rehabilitation since April after an injury to his right wrist, is aiming for a second straight men's singles title. The US Open singles main draw begins on the 30th local time.
