What's happened
Williams has returned to Arthur Ashe with Alcaraz in a high-profile mixed/doubles setting, delivering a memorable performance. The event features revamped formats and notable exits for Djokovic and Sabalenka, while Monfils/Svitolina advance to the semis amid a day of intense competition at the US Open.
What's behind the headline?
Live-update style analysis
- Williams and Alcaraz have reignited excitement with a high-profile appearance, demonstrating the draw of star power at the US Open.
- The revamped doubles format is delivering spectacle but faces questions about the balance between singles stars and doubles specialists.
- Djokovic/Sabalenka exit early, underscoring volatility in the early rounds and potential for surprising results.
- The event showcases a trend toward cross-discipline matchups, leveraging celebrity presence to broaden viewership.
- Expect continued focus on star-driven narratives, with more high-profile pairings likely in upcoming rounds.
Implications for readers
- Fans should follow doubles results as a gauge of how star-driven formats influence future scheduling and television deals.
- The evolving format may alter spectator dynamics and the financial viability of doubles play.
- The event hints at a broader strategy to keep crowds engaged through celebrity participation and shorter formats.
How we got here
Williams has returned to competitive tennis after a 2022 farewell, while Alcaraz has been sidelined by a wrist injury since April. The US Open introduced a revamped mixed-doubles format to boost fan engagement, drawing big-name participants and creating a new dynamic on court.
Our analysis
- The Independent: notes Williams and Alcaraz’s return and their match outcomes; quotes Williams on the court experience. - Al Jazeera: reports on the doubles results, the mixed-doubles format, and Djokovic/Sabalenka’s upset, with additional context on pairings. - Reuters: provides match-by-match detail, including the Monfils/Svitolina performance and the overall progression of the doubles bracket.
Go deeper
- Will Williams and Alcaraz continue to feature prominently in the doubles to boost crowd engagement?
- How will the revamped format affect the strategic choices of doubles specialists?
- Who advances to the semifinals and what are the implications for the singles draw?
More on these topics
-
Lloyd Glasspool - British tennis player
Lloyd Glasspool is a British professional tennis player. He has a career high doubles ranking of No. 84 and a career high singles ranking of No. 282.
-
Aryna Sabalenka - Belarusian tennis player
Aryna Siarhiejeŭna Sabalenka (born 5 May 1998) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. She is the current world No. 1 in women's singles by the WTA and is a former No. 1 in doubles. Sabalenka has won 24 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including four..
-
Henry Patten - British tennis player
Henry Patten is a British tennis player. He won the 2024 Wimbledon men's doubles title alongside Harri Heliövaara. Patten has a career high ATP doubles ranking of world No. 42 achieved on 10 June 2024.
-
Arthur Ashe Stadium - Stadium in Queens, New York
Arthur Ashe Stadium is a tennis stadium at Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens, New York City. Part of the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, it is the main stadium of the US Open tennis tournament, and the largest tennis stadium in the wo
-
Carlos Alcaraz - Spanish tennis player
Carlos Alcaraz Garfia is a Spanish professional tennis player. Alcaraz has a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 75 achieved on 21 June 2021.
-
Serena Williams - American tennis player
Serena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and former world No. 1 in women's single tennis. She has won 23 Grand Slam singles titles, the most by any player in the Open Era, and the second-most of all time behind Margaret Court.
-
Flavio Cobolli - Italian tennis player
Flavio Cobolli is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 24, achieved on 16 June 2025 and a doubles ranking of No. 191, achieved on 19 May 2025. He is currently the No. 3 player from Italy.
-
Belinda Bencic - Swiss tennis player
Belinda Bencic (pronounced [ˈbelinda ˈbentʃitʃ]; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) as high as world No. 4 in singles, which she achieved on 17 February 2020, and No. 59 in doubles, attained on 1 February 2016. She is the current No. 1 Swiss in women's singles. Bencic has won ten Tour singles titles, the most significant being a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She also earned two doubles trophies on the WTA Tour, as well as a mixed doubles title at the 2026 Indian Wells Open, partnering with Flavio Cobolli. A former junior world No. 1, Bencic won two junior major singles titles in 2013 at the French Open and Wimbledon. On the professional tour, she made her top 100 debut shortly after turning 17. Her breakthrough came at the 2014 US Open, where she became the youngest quarterfinalist since Martina Hingis in 1997. Bencic won her first two WTA Tour titles in 2015, including the Canadian Open where she defeated four of the top six players in the world. She then made her top-ten debut the following year aged 18. From 2016 through 2018, Bencic struggled with a variety of injuries, dropping outside...
-
Erin Routliffe - Tennis player
Erin Hope Routliffe is a professional tennis player who specializes in doubles. She represented Canada internationally until 2017; since then, she has represented New Zealand.
-
Elina Svitolina - Ukrainian tennis player
Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina is a Ukrainian tennis player. Having turned professional in 2010, she reached her career-high ranking of world No. 3 on 11 September 2017, and again on 9 September 2019.
-
Diana Shnaider - Russian tennis player
Diana Maximovna Shnaider is a Russian tennis player. Shnaider has a career-high ITF junior combined ranking of 3 achieved on 13 December 2021.
-
Andrey Rublev - Russian tennis player
Andrey Andreyevich Rublev is a Russian professional tennis player. He, as of September 2020, reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 12.
-
Novak Djokovic - Serbian tennis player
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 1 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals.
-
Mirra Andreeva - Russian tennis player
Mirra Aleksandrovna Andreeva is a Russian tennis player. Andreeva has a career-high singles ranking by the WTA of No. 143, achieved on 22 May 2023.