Serena Williams, 44, makes shock US Open return after four-year absence as she teams up with Carlos Alcaraz for doubles

SERENA WILLIAMS is making a sensational US Open comeback, teaming up with Carlos Alcaraz in a blockbuster mixed doubles pairing. Williams, 44, has been handed a wild card alongside defending men’s champion Alcaraz, with the mixed doubles main draw beginning on Tuesday. Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams playing together promises entertainmentCredit: Refer to source Williams will be excited about the prospect of teaming up with Alcaraz Credit: Getty It will be Williams’ first appearance at Flushing Meadows since 2022, and her return comes just days after Alcaraz announced he was finally ready to return from a four-month wrist injury lay-off. Williams is widely regarded as the greatest female player of the modern era, having won 23 Grand Slam singles titles and 14 Grand Slam doubles crowns alongside sister Venus. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! She also has mixed doubles pedigree, winning both Wimbledon and the US Open alongside Max Mirnyi in 1998 when she was just 16. Alcaraz, meanwhile, has won seven Grand Slam singles titles and completed the career Grand Slam at the Australian Open earlier this year. He has not played competitively since April after suffering a right wrist injury, with concerns growing that he could miss the US Open altogether. Instead, the Spaniard will now use the mixed doubles as part of his comeback before attempting to defend his singles crown. The US Open mixed doubles field also includes Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz, Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud, Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, and Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien in a star-studded line-up. BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK Serena Williams is a serial winner Credit: Getty Diana Shnaider is also in the field but is still waiting to learn who her partner will be. Most read in Sport Williams’ return has been a long time coming after she re-entered the anti-doping testing programme last year and began posting videos of herself training. She played singles at Wimbledon this summer before a knee issue ended her doubles plans with Venus. The sisters reunited in Cincinnati this week but lost a deciding tie-break to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns. Alcaraz’s next step on the road to recovery from injury is playing on court with Williams Credit: Getty Williams has still not confirmed whether she will accept the final remaining wild card for the US Open singles tournament. For Alcaraz, meanwhile, the mixed doubles represents a useful test of the wrist before he tackles the best-of-five singles draw. He had planned to return in Cincinnati but pulled out shortly before the tournament, having taken an extremely cautious approach to the injury. Now, he gets to make his competitive comeback alongside one of the biggest stars tennis has ever produced. Comment now