Will Serena Williams Play the 2026 US Open?

Women’s Singles Event

Serena Williams will not participate in the women’s singles event at this year’s US Open. She no longer holds an active WTA ranking to qualify her for the tournament. Fans speculated online for weeks that she might receive a wildcard, but the final one for the women’s singles event went to fellow American Sofia Kenin.

The legend’s last singles match at Flushing Meadows was in 2022. She made it to the third round but ultimately lost to Ajla Tomljanović (7-5, 6-7(4), 6-1). She then took a several-year hiatus until making her comeback in June of this year.

Mixed Doubles Event

Williams, however, will play at the 2026 US Open’s mixed doubles event alongside newly recovered Carlos Alcaraz. The USTA announced on Saturday, August 22nd, that the pair has been awarded a wildcard. They face a stacked field including last year’s champions, the Italian Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori.

Two Champions. One team. pic.twitter.com/5yKXHBjePy
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 22, 2026

Williams and Alcaraz will play their first match later this afternoon against Lloyd Glasspool and Erin Routliffe. If they win that faceoff, their next match will be in the second round later today against either Taylor Townsend and Alexander Zverev or Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli.

Williams’ last mixed doubles match at the Grand Slam tournament was all the way back in 1998. She and her partner Max Mirnyi played together in that year’s final and won against Lisa Raymond and Patrick Galbraith in two sets (6-2, 6-2). This victory was her second Grand Slam mixed doubles title and her only one at Flushing Meadows.

Serena’s Return to Competition

Serena Williams returned to competitive play this June at the Queen’s Club Championships. She played at the women’s doubles event with Victoria Mboko. They won their opening round match against Erin Routliffe and Nicole Melichar-Martinez but withdrew ahead of the quarterfinals.

At the German Open that same month, Williams played in the women’s doubles event with Karolína Muchová but lost in the first round to Erin Routliffe and Giuliana Olmos in straight sets.

At Wimbledon a few weeks later, she finally returned to singles and lost in the first round against Maya Joint in three sets. She was supposed to play in the women’s doubles event as well alongside her sister but withdrew from the draw due to a knee injury.

Earlier this month, Serena and Venus Williams were competitively reunited at last at the Cincinnati Open for the first time since 2022, but they lost their first-round match to Marta Kostyuk and Peyton Stearns in three sets. It remains to be seen whether Williams’ mixed doubles return at the US Open will be a much-needed bright spot on her return to competition.

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