Serena Williams returns to US Open in mixed doubles with Alcaraz, loses quarter-final to Bencic-Cobolli

Serena Williams, 44, declined a US Open singles wild card — given instead to Sofia Kenin — and returned to Flushing Meadows solely for mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz. The pair, carrying 30 Grand Slam singles titles between them, beat Glasspool-Routliffe 5-3, 4-1, then lost 5-4 (4), 4-1 to fourth seeds Bencic-Cobolli in a 55-minute quarter-final on Arthur Ashe. The appearance came 1,453 days after her apparent 2022 farewell.