Williams-Alcaraz falls in US Open mixed quarterfinals

NEW YORK — The dream team of Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz made a winning start but could not progress to the final stages of US Open’s mixed doubles tournament.

Williams, often considered the best women’s tennis player in history and Spain’s seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Alcaraz fell to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Flavio Cobolli of Italy, 5-4, 4-1.

The result means Bencic and Cobolli will advance to Wednesday’s finale of the unorthodox competition, when the semifinals and finals will be played back-to-back.

“We felt their aura for sure,” Bencic told a television interviewer afterward. “It was an honor to play.”

“Playing Serena and Carlos on Arthur Ashe is not easy,” Cobolli said. “So now maybe we take a beer.”

Williams and Alcaraz had shown strong form earlier defeating the British-New Zealand pair of Lloyd Glasspool and Emma Routliffe.

But Cobolli, who is having a breakout season in singles as the French Open runner-up and Bencic, an Olympic Gold medalist with singles wins over Williams, proved too much.

Williams was making her competitive return to Arthur Ashe Stadium since her 2022 retirement, paired with Spain’s Alcaraz, himself back after a lengthy injury layoff.