NEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz should wait slightly longer to study their first opponent within the U.S. Open blended doubles championship.
z have been drawn Sunday to face one of many groups that advances from the eight-team qualifying event that shall be performed Monday.
Williams shall be returning to the U.S. Open for the primary time since 2022. The six-time singles champion and Alcaraz, e, have been awarded a wild card into the 16-team event Saturday.
The primary spherical and quarterfinals of the blended doubles are Tuesday, with the semifinals and last on Wednesday. The profitable group shares $1 million.
Dealing with one of many qualifiers shall be a troublesome task, as a result of a lot of the gamers within the qualifying event are doubles specialists. The qualifying event was added this yr to provide these forms of gamers an opportunity to compete after they have been nearly totally shut out final yr when the U.S. Tennis Affiliation, searching for extra star energy, revamped the blended doubles and based mostly direct entry on the gamers' rankings in singles.
Two-time defending girls's champion Aryna Sabalenka and 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Novak Djokovic earned the No. 1 seed after having the bottom mixed singles rating among the many groups. They are going to face the pair of Leylah Fernandez and Frances Tiafoe of their first match.
People Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz are seeded No. 2 and can open towards Diana Shnaider and Casper Ruud. Ruud was scheduled to play once more with Iga Swiatek, after they reached the ultimate in 2025. However Swiatek withdrew and Schnaider wanted a companion after Daniil Medvedev pulled out.
The opposite first-round matches: Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils, who’re married, vs. Alex Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime; Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli vs. Taylor Townsend and Alexander Zverev; Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik vs. the opposite group from the qualifying event; Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul vs. Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien; Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev vs. two-time defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori; and Shnaider and Ruud vs. Pegula and Fritz.
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