US Open daily: Williams and Alcaraz shine as British qualifiers push on

Last night's mixed doubles gave the US Open its first real jolt of energy, with big names, sharp pairings and a reminder that the tournament can start making noise before the singles draw has even taken over.

But away from the show-court spotlight, Tuesday also carried weight elsewhere: British players kept moving through qualifying, fitness questions began to matter, and the shape of the fortnight ahead continued to shift in small but telling ways.

Williams and Alcaraz light up mixed doubles night The biggest noise in New York came from the revamped mixed doubles event, where Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz packed Arthur Ashe Stadium and briefly turned a pre-main-draw Tuesday into prime-time theatre. Williams, back on a US Open court for the first time since 2022, and Alcaraz, playing his first competitive match since April after a wrist injury, beat Britain's Lloyd Glasspool and New Zealand's Erin Routliffe 5-3 4-1 in their opener. Alcaraz admitted afterwards that he had been nervous, saying he had “almost forgot how it feels stepping out on the court once again”. Williams called the return “a really cool moment” and said she had not expected to be back on that court. The run did not last long. Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli beat Williams and Alcaraz 5-4 (7-4) 4-1 in the quarter-finals, but the spectacle did what the new format was designed to do: it dragged the wider tennis conversation towards mixed doubles before the singles draw has even started.

Patten helps remove the top seeds There was British success in the same competition too. Henry Patten and Katerina Siniakova knocked out top seeds Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka 1-4 4-2 10-2, with Siniakova sealing the upset with an ace on match point. Patten said they knew the short format could swing quickly and called their match tie-break “amazing”. Patten and Siniakova later lost in the quarter-finals to Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina, who now face Bencic and Cobolli in the semi-finals. The other semi-final is Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev against Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik, with the final also scheduled for Wednesday night.

British qualifying picture In singles qualifying, Harriet Dart and Fran Jones both made winning starts. Dart beat 16-year-old American Jordyn Hazelitt 6-0 6-7 (1-7) 6-1 and next faces another American teenager, Kristina Penickova. Jones beat Italy's Nuria Brancaccio 6-3 6-4 and now plays Mona Barthel. It was not a clean sweep for the British group. Jodie Burrage lost 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 to Guiomar Maristany, while Henry Searle was beaten 6-1 6-2 by Michael Antonius in the men's qualifying draw. Heather Watson resumes her own qualifying campaign on Wednesday against Angela Fita Boluda. Jacob Fearnley, Toby Samuel, Billy Harris, Harry Wendelken and Jack Pinnington Jones are also due back as they try to move within one win of the main draw.

Fery keeps building before New York Arthur Fery continued his US Open preparation at the Winston-Salem Open with a 6-1 7-5 win over Cruz Hewitt. The result matters because Fery is still playing his way back into rhythm after his Wimbledon semi-final run, and because Jack Draper's injury withdrawal has left British men's attention looking more spread out than usual heading into New York.

Wawrinka farewell debate grows Stan Wawrinka's absence from the US Open main draw also became a talking point. The 2016 champion, who plans to retire at the end of the year, was not given a wildcard and did not enter qualifying. In a social media post quoted by BBC Sport, Wawrinka said winning in New York would “forever be one of the greatest moments of my life”. The USTA does not comment on wildcard decisions, but the choice has drawn criticism because Wawrinka has been given farewell opportunities at other majors this season. His case sits awkwardly beside the US Open's understandable focus on home wildcards and reciprocal places.

What to watch next Wednesday's key US Open thread is whether the remaining British qualifiers can join Dart and Jones in making the second-round board look healthier. The mixed doubles title will also be settled, and its semi-final line-up will keep the debate alive over whether the new format is a brilliant shop window or a rough deal for doubles specialists. The bigger singles question is still forming. With Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper already withdrawn, and Alcaraz easing back in through mixed doubles, every bit of court time and every qualifying result now feels like part of the tournament's first proper shape-up before the main draw begins on Sunday, 30 August 2026.