Serena and Alcaraz's Mixed Debut Ends in US Open Quarterfinals, Belinda Bencic and FlavioC
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Serena, Alcaraz win mixed debut at US Open Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz got knocked out in the US Open mixed doubles quarterfinals by Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli on Tuesday.
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Sky SportsWednesday 26 August 2026 00:01, UK Star pairing Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarter-finals of the US Open mixed doubles before being beaten by fourth seeds Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli.
NDTV SportsSerena Williams-Carlos Alcaraz Fall In US Open Mixed Quarter-Finals The pair of Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz knocked out of US Open
The Guardian SportSerena Williams’ US Open return lasted two matches and one afternoon Tuesday as she and Carlos Alcaraz followed a first-round win with a quarter-final defeat by Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in the headline attraction of the reimagined mixed doubles competition.
SMH SportSerena, Alcaraz team up in doubles Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz team up in the mixed doubles at the US Open.
Bleacher ReportThe mixed doubles tournament at the U.S. Open kicked off on Tuesday, with some big names—including Novak Djokovic, Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz—all in action.
BBC SportPublished Enjoy it - and do what Serena Williams tells you to. That was how Carlos Alcaraz settled back into competitive action at the US Open, partnering the American great as she returned to her home slam after a four-year absence.
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Novak, Aryna Lose in US Open Doubles Routliffe and Glaspool had the early edge in Tuesday's match, taking a 2-0 lead and then a 3-1 lead in the first set, but Williams and Alcaraz scored their first break of the match to tie things up at 3-3. They took a 4-3 lead after surviving two set points.
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With their quarter-final match scheduled immediately afterwards, Williams and Alcaraz ultimately ran out of puff as Bencic and Cobolli triumphed 5-4 4-1, the latter then having hailed their opponents pre-match as "the queen of tennis and the king of now."
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Bleacher ReportThe No. 4 seed Bencic and Cobolli is now the favorites, especially after eliminating the iconic duo of Williams and Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.
BBC SportBut with Alcaraz looking increasingly rusty in the quarter-final, Cobolli and Bencic won convincingly.
The Guardian SportThat momentum did not survive the quick turnaround, with Bencic and Cobolli ending their run 5-4 (4), 4-1. Yet Williams looked anything but a nostalgia act, flying to the net and reading points a stroke ahead. She even served the opening game of the quarter-final ahead of Alcaraz – a rarity in mixed doubles. When it was over after 55 minutes, Williams might have been second-guessing her decision to decline the singles wildcard organizers had kept open for her before giving it to Sofia Kenin.
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Bencic and Cobolli will now face Svitolina and Monfils in the semifinals, while the other match will pit Muchova and Mensik against Andreeva and Rublev.
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Sky SportsThey next face Czech pair Karolína Muchova and Jakub Mensik in one of Wednesday's semi-finals, with Bencic and Cobolli facing husband and wife partnership Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina in the other after they edged out Patten and Siniakova in the last eight.
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Seven-time major winner Alcaraz was playing his first competitive match since April after injuring his wrist, while 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams was competing in New York for the first time since she "evolved away" from tennis in 2022.
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Sky SportsIt was also seven-time major winner Alcaraz's first match back on tour after a wrist injury sidelined the reigning men's singles champion since April. The 22-year-old was born five years after Williams won the 1998 mixed doubles title at Flushing Meadows.
Bleacher ReportAlcaraz is likewise making a comeback, albeit not quite to the extent of Williams. The star missed the last four months of action due to a wrist injury, forcing him to sit out the French Open and Wimbledon.
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"It was just a really cool moment. I never thought this would happen." The controversial revamped mixed doubles format, introduced last year, pits established doubles players against some of the sport's biggest singles stars.
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Sky SportsThe mixed doubles championship is once again being staged in the week before the singles main draw, after organisers revamped the format last year to attract more leading singles players by reducing the field and giving the event a standalone slot on the calendar.
The Guardian SportThis was the bargain offered by the revamped mixed doubles championship: unprecedented star wattage, abbreviated matches and abrupt endings. Last year’s overhaul moved mixed doubles to a standalone slot before singles, cut the field to 16 and raised the top prize to $1m, favoring singles stars over the objections of doubles specialists. Early rounds use four-game sets, no-ad scoring and a 10-point decider. Only Wednesday’s final returns to six-game sets.
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Independent claims that didn't surface elsewhere in our corpus. Treat as supplementary — not corroborated across outlets.
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01 Bleacher Report Serena, Alcaraz Win Doubles R1 Federer Rules Out Comeback First Round Results Belinda Bencic/Flavio Cobolli def. Alexander Zverev/Taylor Townsend, 4-2, 4-2
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02 Reuters Sports Williams, Alcaraz exit US Open mixed doubles, married Monfils, Svitolina advance - Reuters Williams, Alcaraz exit US Open mixed doubles, married Monfils, Svitolina advance Reuters
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03 BBC Sport All four doubles specialist pairings lost to a team of singles players on Tuesday, while Alcaraz and Williams fell in the quarter-finals.
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04 The Guardian Sport Back inside Arthur Ashe Stadium 1,453 days after the defeat by Ajla Tomljanovic that had appeared to end her career, Williams emerged from the tunnel at half past three to the roars of more than 10,000 spectators. As the 44-year-old American and Alcaraz warmed up in matching purple-and-black Nike kits, public-address announcer Andy Taylor rattled off her accolades one by one to a steadily rising wall of applause. Together they carried 30 grand slam singles titles, a record for a mixed-doubles team at a major.
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05 Sky Sports Williams - a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion - returned to tennis in June at the age of 44 and secured her first professional win since 2022 as she and Alcaraz beat Britain's Lloyd Glasspool and partner Erin Routliffe in their opening match.
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