The blockbuster pairing of Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz saw their US Open mixed doubles campaign end in the quarter-finals on Tuesday night, falling 5-4, 4-1 to Switzerland’s Belinda Bencic and Italy’s Flavio Cobolli in a result that denied tennis fans the fairytale finale they’d been craving.
This was supposed to be the dream team that delivered stardust and silverware. Instead, Williams and Alcaraz managed just one victory before being sent packing by a Swiss-Italian combination that handled the pressure of facing two of tennis’ biggest names on Arthur Ashe Stadium with nerveless composure.
The defeat means Bencic and Cobolli advance to Wednesday’s finale of the unorthodox competition, where semi-finals and finals will be played back-to-back in a condensed format that rewards stamina and adaptability as much as pure tennis quality.
“We felt their aura for sure,” Bencic told a television interviewer afterwards, barely concealing her delight at toppling tennis royalty. “It was an honour to play.”
Her partner Cobolli, the French Open singles runner-up enjoying a breakout season, summed up the achievement with typically Italian flair: “Playing Serena and Carlos on Arthur Ashe is not easy. So now maybe we take a beer.”
Strong start couldn’t continue
Williams and Alcaraz had shown genuine chemistry in their opening match, defeating the British-New Zealand pairing of Lloyd Glasspool and Emma Routliffe with a performance that suggested the dream team moniker might be justified. Their coordination was sharp, their shot-making sublime, and the Arthur Ashe crowd roared their approval.
But Cobolli and Bencic proved a different proposition entirely. The Italian is having a career-best season on the singles circuit, whilst Bencic, an Olympic gold medallist with singles victories over Williams in her trophy cabinet, brought the kind of big-match experience that doesn’t wilt under pressure.
The Swiss-Italian duo executed their game plan brilliantly, neutralising Williams’ power and Alcaraz’s court coverage to claim a victory that felt simultaneously shocking and thoroughly deserved.
Williams’ competitive return cut short
For Williams, the defeat ended a competitive return to Arthur Ashe Stadium that had tennis purists salivating from the moment it was announced. The 44-year-old, often considered the greatest women’s tennis player in history, hadn’t competed at the venue since her 2022 retirement, and her partnership with Spain’s seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Alcaraz, himself returning from a lengthy injury layoff, promised appointment viewing.
The pair arrived dressed in coordinated purple and black jersey-type outfits, smiling and bantering on changeovers with the easy chemistry of two champions enjoying the moment rather than stressing about the outcome. The audience, which had roared their first-round arrival, was noticeably more subdued in the second match as the reality of defeat loomed.
Other star pairings also fall
Williams and Alcaraz weren’t the only high-wattage pairing sent packing on Tuesday. Former world number one Novak Djokovic and four-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka also exited, losing to Czech Katerina Siniakova and Britain’s Henry Patten in three sets.
The US Open mixed doubles format deliberately blends doubles specialists with star singles players, creating pairings that range from the experimental to the downright romantic. This year’s event, in its second year, will crown a new champion after defending titlists Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani lost to Russians Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev 1-4, 4-1, 11-9.
Perhaps the tournament’s most heartwarming story belongs to France’s Gael Monfils and Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina – the husband-and-wife duo who only learned late they’d been granted a wildcard entry and joked about not winning a game. They’ve now won two matches, including a tightly contested quarter-final victory over Siniakova and Patten 5-4, 4-5, 10-8 in a decisive tiebreak.
“We had zero expectations,” Svitolina admitted afterwards, barely able to process their run.
Monfils, who will retire after this season, refused to discuss title chances but acknowledged “we will have great images for our memory.”
Wednesday’s compressed finale promises drama, but it will unfold without the dream team that captured imaginations. Williams and Alcaraz delivered one memorable performance. Tennis wanted more. Bencic and Cobolli had other ideas.
