Serena Williams, Carlos Alcaraz's Highlights and Top Stats from Return in US Open Mixed Doubles

A tennis legend and a legend in the making teamed up at the US Open in mixed doubles on Tuesday.

Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz opened up the tournament with a comeback win against Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool in the first round. Williams and Alcaraz won the match 5-3, 4-1.

Routliffe and Glaspool had the early edge in Tuesday's match, taking a 2-0 lead and then a 3-1 lead in the first set, but Williams and Alcaraz scored their first break of the match to tie things up at 3-3. They took a 4-3 lead after surviving two set points.

The pair then secured the set 5-3 after winning their second break. From there, it was a mostly dominant showing as Routliffe and Glaspool won just one of the final eight games of the match.

Tuesday marked Williams' first appearance at Arthur Ashe Stadium since 2022. She and Alcaraz received a wild-card entry into the mixed doubles portion of the U.S. Open.

Though Williams hasn't technically retired, she has been mostly inactive in competitive tennis since August 2022, when she told Vogue that she would be "evolving away from tennis" to focus on "other things that are important to me."

However, she's used the summer to ramp back into tennis shape, playing in the HSBC Championships in June before playing in four other tournaments ahead of the U.S. Open.

Alcaraz is likewise making a comeback, albeit not quite to the extent of Williams. The star missed the last four months of action due to a wrist injury, forcing him to sit out the French Open and Wimbledon.

Now having won in their first-round matchup, Williams and Alcaraz will take on the fourth-seeded pairing of Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli.