Serena Williams will team up with Carlos Alcaraz for the US Open mixed doubles this coming week.<\/p>\n
The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion made her return to tennis in June, four years after “evolving away” from the sport.<\/p>\n
She has played three doubles matches since her return and made her singles comeback at Wimbledon, losing in three sets<\/a> to Maya Joint.<\/p>\n The American great lost in the doubles<\/a> with elder sister Venus at the Cincinnati Open on Monday in her first match since injuring her knee at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n Seven-time major winner Alcaraz is set to play for the first time in over four months following a wrist injury.<\/p>\n The pair, who have a combined 44 singles and doubles Grand Slams, have been given a wildcard into the main draw of the competition. <\/p>\n The US Open mixed doubles was controversially revamped last year to include singles stars in a bid to attract more attention to the format.<\/p>\n The top six pairs with the best combined singles rankings have received direct entry into the main draw, with another eight receiving wildcards.<\/p>\n Defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori are the only doubles specialist pairing to receive a main-draw wildcard.<\/p>\n The other pairings – including Britain’s number one Henry Patten alongside top-ranked women’s player Katerina Siniakova – will have to come through an eight-team qualifying round.<\/p>\n The competition takes place from 24-26 August, finishing four days before the singles draw begins.<\/p>\n Other high-profile pairings include world number one Aryna Sabalenka with 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic, American pair Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz, and six-time major champion Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud.<\/p>\n Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina has paired up with husband Gael Monfils in the Frenchman’s final Grand Slam before retirement.<\/p>\n The tournament was revamped last year to include more pairings involving singles players – something that was criticised by a number of doubles specialists.<\/a><\/p>\n A shorter scoring system was introduced, with only four games required to win a set in matches before the final, no ‘advantage’ scoring and 10-point match tie-breaks instead of a third set throughout.<\/p>\n The tournament was also tweaked to place over two days in the week before the main draw began.<\/p>\n Italians Errani and Vavassori – the only doubles specialist pairing invited to compete last year – last year issued a joint statement criticising the “profoundly wrong” move.<\/p>\n