Serena Williams thrills on US Open return alongside Alcaraz

The Serena Slam back on the court in US Open mixed doubles

Partnering Carlos Alcaraz in the US Open's revamped mixed doubles, Serena Williams won her opening tie before the pair were knocked out in the quarter-finals.

The 44-year-old, a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, had not played in New York since she "evolved away" from tennis in 2022.

Alcaraz, a seven-time major winner, was making his own return after a wrist injury kept him out since April.

Together they beat Great Britain's Lloyd Glasspool and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe 5-3 4-1, taking eight of the last nine games, as BBC Sport reported.

Serena Williams and the format row

The rebooted competition has drawn criticism for prioritising singles stars over established doubles players, and Tuesday did little to quiet it: all four specialist pairings lost to teams of singles players.

Williams won this title in its original format alongside Max Mirnyi in 1998, five years before Alcaraz was born.

It caps a striking summer for the sport that has already taken in Alex Eala's Washington Open title.

The young Spanish national said that he's "playing next to the one and only Serena Williams, so what else can I do? Just enjoy and try to do the things she told me to do."

Their run ended against Italy's world number six Flavio Cobolli and Switzerland's Belinda Bencic, who won 5-4 (7-4) 4-1 to reach Wednesday's semi-finals.

You can watch highlights of the match on the BBC.