Serena Williams, Carlos Alcaraz rally for dominant win in superstar mixed doubles pairing at US Open

· Yahoo Sports

Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz teamed on Tuesday in mixed doubles for a US Open return that was significant for both.

Visit grenadier.co.za for more information.

They delivered with a comeback, 5-3, 4-1 win over mixed doubles specialists Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool in first-round play, much to the delight of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd that showed up to cheer on the tennis superstars.

Routliffe and Glaspool broke Alcaraz’s first serve and took 2-0 and 3-1 leads in the first set. Sets in mixed doubles are played to four games.

Then, trailing 3-2 with the first set on the line, Williams and Alcaraz scored their first break of the match to tie the set at 3-3. They survived two set points to keep the set alive. Williams then delivered with a pair of aces on her serve to take a 4-3 lead.

With a chance to set up game point on their next serve, Williams delivered a fiery forehand winner off a Routliffe serve.

Williams and Alcaraz followed through with their second break to secure the set, 5-3. They were in control from there. Routliffe and Glaspool won just one of the final eight games as Williams and Alcaraz put on a show for the supportive New York crowd.

Up next, Williams and Alcaraz will take on Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, the tournament’s fourth-seeded team. Williams and Alcaraz are playing together as wild cards. The pair will get a short break before playing the quarterfinal matchup just minutes after their first-round win.

“It’s always such an amazing place to be here. I never expected to be back on this court,” Williams said in her post-match interview. “It was just a really cool moment. I never thought this would happen.”

For Williams, the match was her first at Arthur Ashe Stadium since her final pre-retirement singles match in 2022. She's now back at the US Open competing with one of the biggest stars in the game in Alcaraz as part of a limited comeback to tennis.

Williams began her comeback in the spring that included a first-round singles loss at Wimbledon to Maya Joint. She's since played doubles with her sister, Venus at the Cincinnati Open, where they lost in three sets in the first round to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns.

For Alcaraz, the match marked his return to competitive tennis for the first time since he suffered a wrist injury in April that sidelined him for Wimbledon and the French Open. Alcaraz was initially listed in the field for the Cincinnati Open earlier in August, but he withdrew amid the lingering injury.

“I was out for four months and a half, almost five months,” Alcaraz said after the first-round win. “I almost forget how it feels stepping on the court once again.”

Now Alcaraz is back for the final Grand Slam of the year. Despite his rust, the two-time and reigning US Open champion is the favorite to win the men's singles title in a field that doesn't feature injured World No. 1 Jannik Sinner. But before that, he’ll continue to play in mixed doubles with a fellow icon of the game in Williams for at least one more match.

This story will be updated.

Read full story at source