RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Star pairing Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarter-finals of the US Open mixed doubles before being beaten by fourth seeds Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli. <p>Williams - a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion - returned to tennis in June at the age of 44 and secured her first professional win since 2022 as she and Alcaraz beat Britain's Lloyd Glasspool and partner Erin Routliffe in their opening match.</p><p>It was also seven-time major winner Alcaraz's first match back on tour after a wrist injury sidelined the reigning men's singles champion since April. The 22-year-old was born five years after Williams won the 1998 mixed doubles title at Flushing Meadows.</p><widget id="2"></widget><ul><li><a href="https://www.skysports.com/tennis/scores-schedule"><strong>Latest tennis scores and results</strong></a> \ud83c\udfbe</li><li><a href="https://qrcode.skysports.com/skysports/ContentPromo" target="_blank"><strong>Download Sky Sports app for analysis, news and video</strong></a> \ud83d\udcfa</li><li><strong>Not got Sky? <a href="https://www.sky.com/tv/sports?dcmp=Ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank">Get Sky Sports</a> or <a href="https://www.nowtv.com/watch-sky-sports-online?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink" target="_blank">stream with no contract</a> </strong>\ud83d\udcf1</li></ul><p>The dynamic pairing bounced back from a slow start to claim a 5-3 4-1 opening victory over Routliffe and Glasspool, much to the delight of fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.</p><p>"I never expected to be back on this court," Williams said. "I never thought this would happen."</p> <widget id="1"></widget><p>With their quarter-final match scheduled immediately afterwards, Williams and Alcaraz ultimately ran out of puff as Bencic and Cobolli triumphed 5-4 4-1, the latter then having hailed their opponents pre-match as "the queen of tennis and the king of now."</p><p>The question now is whether Williams will seek an encore performance in women's doubles alongside older sister Venus, having already ruled out a repeat of her singles appearance at Wimbledon.</p> <widget id="3"></widget><h3>Djokovic and Sabalenka suffer early exit</h3><p>Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka were bounced out of the tournament in the opening match on Arthur Ashe, falling to a 1-4 4-2 10-2 \u200cdefeat to Britain's Henry Patten and Katerina Siniakova.</p> <widget id="4"></widget><p>Djokovic, a \u200b24-time Grand Slam singles champion, and four-time major winner Sabalenka made a strong start by \u200btaking the opening set, but doubles specialists Patten and \u200cSiniakova hit back to claim the second before dominating the tiebreak \u200bto secure a place in the quarter-finals.</p><p>Siniakova sealed the upset in style with an ace out wide on match \u200bpoint, ending the tournament hopes of the \u2060star-studded pairing.</p><p>"It wasn't looking very \u2060good for a while, in this format we play one bad game and all \u200cof a sudden the first set's gone," Patten said.</p><p>"We knew the same could happen in the second, and we played \u200can amazing tiebreak. Kat acing Novak on match point was great."</p><p>The mixed doubles championship is once again being staged in the week before the singles main draw, after organisers revamped \u2060the format last year to attract more \u200bleading singles players by reducing the field and \u200bgiving the event a standalone slot on the \u200bcalendar.</p><p>The revamped format proved a commercial success in its \u2060debut year, drawing sell-out crowds and attracting many of the sport's biggest singles names despite criticism from some doubles specialists, \u2060who argued it marginalised established pairings.</p><h3>Defending champions dumped out in first round</h3><p>Italian \u200bduo Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori went on to \u200bretain the title by defeating Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud in last year's final, but suffered a first-round exit this year.</p><p>Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev beat the defending champions 1-4 4-1 11-9 in the opening round, before clinching a semi-final spot with a 4-1 4-5 10-5 victory over Diana Shnaider and Casper Ruud.</p> <widget id="5"></widget><p>They next face Czech pair Karol\u00edna Muchova and Jakub Mensik in one of Wednesday's semi-finals, with Bencic and Cobolli facing husband and wife partnership Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina in the other after they edged out Patten and Siniakova in the last eight.</p><p>The final two follow the two semis on Wednesday night will resemble a regular match, with traditional sets to six games.</p><p><strong>Watch the ATP and WTA Tours live on Sky Sports. The US Open is also live on Sky Sports from August 30. </strong><strong><a href="https://www.nowtv.com/watch-sky-sports-online?DCMP=ilc_skysports_nc_articlelink">Stream tennis with NOW</a> and the <a href="https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11677/12572660/download-the-sky-sports-app-premier-league-goals-f1-race-control-and-more-at-your-fingertips">Sky Sports App</a>.</strong></p>
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