The 2026 U.S. Open tennis tournament is underway, with mixed doubles action that kicked off on Tuesday and the main draw set to begin in New York City next week.Carlos Alcaraz, last year’s men’s title winner, will attempt to defend his crown as he looks to come back from a wrist injury that’s kept him out of play since April. He took part in the mixed doubles competition alongside great Serena Williams, who made her return to tennis in June after her retirement from the sport nearly four years earlier. Alcaraz-Williams, much like the pairing of stars Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka, fell in the early rounds on Tuesday.Williams, who isn’t planning to play in the singles competition, is set to team up with her sister Venus for the women’s doubles next week, tournament organizers announced Wednesday. The two last played together at the U.S. Open in 2022.Top-ranked Jannik Sinner, meanwhile, has withdrawn from the tournament due to injury.On the women’s side, top-ranked Sabalenka looks to become the first woman since Williams to win three straight U.S. Open titles. Former U.S. Open champ Coco Gauff, fresh off a big Cincinnati Open win, is hoping to have similar success in Queens.The Grand Slam tournament is known to attract big names, including President Donald Trump, who has made a habit of positioning himself next to major sports events as he faces abysmal poll numbers amid his unpopular Iran war.It’s unclear whether Trump, whose appearance at last year’s men’s final prompted boos in Arthur Ashe Stadium, will return to his home borough of Queens when this year’s final goes down on Sept. 13.Check out our coverage below:'Big Regret': Roger Federer Names The U.S. Open Loss That Haunts HimTennis great Roger Federer has revealed that he’s haunted by his shock defeat in the 2009 U.S. Open men’s final.Federer — in an interview clip shared by ESPN’s Spanish-language tennis page on Tuesday — reflected on Argentina’s Juan Martín del Potro beating him in a match that lasted over four hours.Read more:Latest Live UpdatesAnna Wintour Names The Next Possible Fashion Star Of Women's TennisStyle icon Anna Wintour named a possible heir apparent to Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka as tennis’ reigning fashion queen. Read more below.Former U.S. Open Champ Gets Last-Minute Wild Card After Fan OutcryNEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Swiss Stan Wawrinka has been handed a wild card entry to the U.S. Open men’s singles draw, organizers said on Wednesday, after several days of outcry from fans over his exclusion.The 2016 champion was left off the initial list of wild card entries in his farewell season, reigniting fierce debate over which players get the nod — and which are left out — in the wild card process at the majors.Wawrinka posted an emotional farewell to the tournament on social media on Tuesday, seemingly closing the door on any hope of his competing in the year’s final major after participating in the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon this year on wild cards.“I’m incredibly excited to accept the wild card for the 2026 US Open and look forward to competing in front of the fans in New York once again,” he said in a statement.The 41-year-old former world number three won at Roland Garros in 2015 and the Australian Open in 2014.(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ed Osmond)Alcaraz Ready To Reignite Season In New York After Nearly Five-Month AbsenceBENGALURU, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Carlos Alcaraz returns from a nearly five-month injury layoff for his U.S. Open title defense with little match practice but no shortage of expectation as the flamboyant Spaniard bids to win a third title in New York.Few modern players have lit up the sport quite like Alcaraz, whose blend of flair and fearless shot-making helped him become the youngest man to complete the career Grand Slam when he won his seventh major crown at this year’s Australian Open.Alcaraz turned 23 a few months after his Melbourne triumph, but the momentum from that historic achievement was abruptly halted when he pulled out injured midway through the Barcelona Open in April and his absence has been keenly felt since.Having missed most of the clay season, the French Open, Wimbledon and North American hardcourt tournaments, Alcaraz returns to a sport that has been waiting for one of its top attractions, noted renowned coach Patrick Mouratoglou.“His return will be great for tennis,” Mouratoglou said on social media, acknowledging the unique excitement that Alcaraz generates at tournaments around the world.“It will bring back something that was missing at both Wimbledon and Roland Garros.”DOMINANT TRIUMPH LAST YEARIf there is one venue that can ease doubts about Alcaraz’s readiness, it may be Flushing Meadows, where he won the title as a teenager in 2022 to become world number one for the first time and returned to the summit after a dominant triumph last year.Alcaraz’s 24-3 win-loss record in New York underlines an affinity with the event and offers further reason for optimism and former U.S. Open champion Andy Roddick said the rusty world number three appeared willing to embrace the uncertainty.“We don’t know what we’re going to get,” Roddick said on his podcast ‘Served’. “A lot of the time he pulls shots out of nowhere. For him to play this, I have to think the risk of further injury is next to nothing.“It seems like he’s happy to accept that ‘hey, listen, maybe my legs will be tired. Maybe I haven’t played any match reps. I might lose first or second round ... but I’m going to go’.“This is great, it’s such a win for tennis.”Videos of Alcaraz’s training sessions have hinted at a man eager to make up for lost time, even if the true measure of his readiness will come under the lights in New York. (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)Serena, Venus Williams To Team Up Once Again At The U.S. OpenNEW YORK, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Serena and Venus Williams have received a women’s doubles wildcard entry at the U.S. Open, tournament organizers said on Wednesday.The sisters have played together in the U.S. Open doubles nine times, most recently in 2022, when Serena made an emotional farewell to the sport. Serena exited the mixed doubles tournament with partner Carlos Alcaraz in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.Serena, a 23-times Grand Slam champion, returned to the court for the first time in nearly four years at the Queen’s Club Championships in London in June.The 44-year-old showed glimpses of her old form in her two mixed doubles matches on Tuesday, firing down a 120 mph (193.1 kph) ace to gasps from the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.The 46-year-old Venus reached the women’s doubles quarter-finals last year with Canadian partner Leylah Fernandez.The Williams sisters played together this month in Cincinnati, where they lost in their opening match. They were once among the most formidable doubles pairs on the circuit, winning the U.S. Open title in 2009 and 2019.The women’s doubles first round begins at Flushing Meadows on September 3.(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Sharon Singleton and Ed Osmond)Djokovic And Sabalenka Suffer Early Exit In Mixed DoublesNEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Top seeds Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka suffered an early exit from the U.S. Open mixed doubles on Tuesday, falling 1-4 4-2 10-2 to Henry Patten and Katerina Siniakova in their opening match.Djokovic, a 24-times Grand Slam singles champion, and four-times major winner Sabalenka made a strong start by taking the opening set. But Patten and doubles specialist Siniakova hit back to claim the second before dominating the tiebreak to secure a place in the quarter-finals.Siniakova sealed the upset in style with an ace out wide on match point, ending the tournament hopes of the star-studded pairing.“It wasn’t looking very good for a while, in this format we play one bad game and all of a sudden the first set’s gone,” Patten said.“We knew the same could happen in the second, and we played an amazing tiebreak. Kat acing Novak on match point was great.”The mixed doubles championship is once again being staged in the week before the singles main draw, after organisers revamped the format last year to attract more leading singles players by reducing the field and giving the event a standalone slot on the calendar.The revamped format proved a commercial success in its debut year, drawing sellout crowds and attracting many of the sport’s biggest singles names despite criticism from some doubles specialists, who argued it marginalised established pairings.Italian duo Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori went on to retain the title by defeating Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud in last year’s final.(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Davis)Mamdani Secures 'Affordable' U.S. Open Tickets For NYC Residents Amid Surging PricesNew York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will announce Tuesday that he has secured 1,000 “affordable” tickets for local residents to attend the upcoming U.S. Open, according to The Athletic.Mamdani’s initiative is a response to concerns about surging ticket prices for the Grand Slam tennis tournament, which begins on Sunday.The tickets for main-draw matches are priced at $100 and will be able on a first-come, first-served basis to residents with a certified New York City ZIP code. The window to purchase opens at 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday.The available tickets run until Sept. 8, the first day of the men’s and women’s singles quarterfinals, and include seats at the show courts at Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium.These tickets are ineligible for resale through Ticketmaster, where the cheapest resale seat available on opening day at Arthur Ashe Stadium was $344, rising to more than $1,000 for courtside seats, per The Athletic. Grounds passes with a face value of $65 were going for $263 on Ticketmaster, a 305% markup.— Field Level Media'Incredible Memories': Roger Federer Celebrated During U.S Open ReturnNEW YORK (AP) — Five-time U.S. Open champion Roger Federer returned to Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday night to play one last match for fun against longtime rival and friend Andy Roddick.The event billed as “An Icon Returns to New York” packed the stands full of fans there to watch the 45-year-old from Switzerland face Roddick — soon to be 44 — in a prime time exhibition. Many wore hats with the distinctive “RF” logo that became commonplace in the sport during Federer’s decade and a half of dominance featuring 20 Grand Slam titles.“It’s great to be back in New York,” Federer said. “I have incredible memories, obviously, of this court, of the fans here, of the city.”Federer reminisced about visiting for the first time to play juniors in 1998 and reaching the final. Three years later, his debut on center court was a straight-sets loss to Andre Agassi.“He smashed me 6-1, 6-2, 6-4,” Federer said. “I had no shot. And I was like, ‘OK, not so easy, not fast, Roger.’ But, still, I’ll remember this center court forever.”In 2005, Federer defeated Agassi to win the U.S. Open for the second of five in a row through ’08.“The one against Andre, I think, was extremely special: playing a legend that was coming towards the end of his career — that we had a chance to play against each other,” Federer said. “And every player I was able to play against in the finals here also was a U.S. Open champion. It’s been an incredible run. I loved it.”Roddick, who won the tournament in ‘03, credited the fans and Federer for his return.“It comes down to Roger,” Roddick said. “Obviously we played a bunch and he beat me a bunch, but we were always able to navigate a friendship through the middle of our careers that’s lasted till now and will hopefully last forever. It’s just about showing up when Roger asks you to.”Federer, who last competed at the U.S. Open in 2019 and retired in 2022, then teamed up with John McEnroe and faced Roddick and Agassi in a doubles exhibition.___See AP’s full tennis coverage hereSerena Williams, Carlos Alcaraz Knocked Out Of Mixed DoublesNEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams getting back on the court at the U.S. Open after a four-year absence and Carlos Alcaraz returning to competitive tennis after being out the past four months with injury brought cheers and nostalgia to the Grand Slam tournament.The celebration was short-lived.After winning their debut playing together, Williams and Alcaraz got knocked out in the mixed doubles quarterfinals by Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 5-4 (4), 4-1 on Tuesday. Cobolli before the match called their opponents “the queen of tennis and the king of now.”The star-studded duo with a combined eight U.S. Open singles championships certainly earned that praise. Williams and Alcaraz bounced back from a slow start in the first round to defeat Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool 5-3, 4-1, much to the delight of fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium who were clearly on their side.“I never expected to be back on this court,” Williams said after her first match at Flushing Meadows since 2022. “I never thought this would happen.”Now the question is whether she will seek an encore performance in women’s doubles alongside older sister Venus. They won the U.S. Open twice among their 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together.Serena, who is back playing tennis at age 44, does not plan to play singles.Williams in her latest mixed doubles cameo — she won the U.S. Open with Max Mirnyi in 1998 — hit some vintage shots that looked straight out of her prime. Early on, she carried Alcaraz, the 23-year-old defending champion who’s ranked third in the world in men’s singles and was clearly rusty in his first competitive action since April 14.“I think everybody could see: I double-faulted on the first point,” said Alcaraz, who missed the French Open and Wimbledon because of a right wrist injury and wore a sleeve on that arm. “I was really, really nervous. I was out for four months ... I almost forget how it feels.”Fans chanted, “Come on, Carlos!” and “Let’s go, Serena, let’s go!” But the pair was overpowered by Bencic and Cobolli, letting a first-set tiebreaker slip away and getting dominated in the second.Cobolli acknowledged being tight because Williams and Alcaraz were on the other side. Bencic said Williams tried to intimidate her — by saying she speaks Italian better.“It was surreal to play against Carlos,” Bencic said. “Sometimes I was just standing at the volley or the return, and I was like, ‘How did I end up on this court?’ I don’t really know. Just a huge honor. Obviously you can feel both of their auras.”The matches in the first three rounds feature sets to four games, with a tiebreaker at 4-all and a 10-point tiebreaker instead of a third set. Only the final on Wednesday night will resemble a regular match, with traditional sets to six games.The champions get $1 million in the second year of the new mixed doubles format that is meant to attract top players. Joining Bencic and Cobolli in the semifinals were Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils; Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev; and Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik.___See AP’s full tennis coverage hereFox Sports Posts A Trump Video That's 'Propaganda At Its Finest,' Critics SayFox Sports on Monday posted a video, “President Donald Trump is the Sports President,” that highlighted his attendance at sporting events. But the Instagram entry riled up observers, who called it “propaganda” and a “reminder” of the network’s relation to Fox News. Read and watch below.Federer To Get Long-Overdue U.S. Open Send-Off On TuesdayNEW YORK, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Roger Federer will make a long-awaited curtain call for his adoring fans at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday as the man who defined a generation of tennis plays in an exhibition event ahead of the U.S. Open singles main draw.His final U.S. Open match in 2019 lacked the romantic sendoff that fans have come to expect for former champions, as the Swiss exited in the quarter-finals with many expecting him to return to play at the event again.But he was absent from the U.S Open in 2020 and played in his final slam at Wimbledon in 2021, leaving the New York tournament he once dominated without a proper farewell.“It really gives me a true opportunity to say thank you, goodbye, which is I think important for some,” said Federer, whose five consecutive wins are unmatched by any man in the Open Era. “For me it is, and it’s a nice thing to do.”Tuesday’s exhibition, “US Open: Roger Federer - An Icon Returns to NY,” was fetching upwards of $2,000 on Ticketmaster’s resale platform on Monday, and the Swiss Maestro said he only hoped he could hit the right notes after a long layoff.“It’s nerve-wracking, to be honest. I haven’t played a single set in - I don’t know - maybe five years. Don’t know how it’s going to go tomorrow,” he told reporters. “There’s a lot of uncertainty, but a lot of happiness that I can return.”Federer will play alongside fellow retired greats Andy Roddick, Andre Agassi and John McEnroe at Arthur Ashe Stadium, where newly un-retired American Serena Williams is due to play mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz earlier in the day.The 44-year-old Williams’ return to New York had Flushing Meadows buzzing on Monday, as fans had already begun to flood the plaza to catch some of the singles qualifying tournament.Asked if he would ever consider accepting a wild card to the singles competition, Federer, who is only one year Williams’ senior, was emphatic: “No, no, no, no, no, no.”“I’ve got just way too many obstacles and I’m too busy - I’m barely finding time to play any exos,” said Federer, who is due to be inducted in the Tennis Hall of Fame on Saturday. “The body is done.”The U.S. Open men’s and women’s singles main draw begins on Sunday.(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Ken Ferris)See All Updates