Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic suffered a shock first-round exit at the US Open mixed doubles following a three-set defeat to Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten. 

Sabalenka and Djokovic were the top seeds at the revamped mixed doubles tournament at Flushing Meadows, but they were on the end of a 4-1 2-4 2-10 defeat on Tuesday. 

They had started the match brightly, however, with Sabalena and Djokovic needing 17 minutes to take the first set, only for Siniakova and Patten to come out fighting in the second.

Siniakova and Patten had been broken early on in the set, only to reel off three consecutive games to force a 10-point tie-break to see who would progress to the quarter-finals. 

Sabalenka and Djokovic were able to take an early point, but they proved no match for their opponents, with Siniakova sealing the win with an ace past the 24-time major champion.

Their triumph set up a last-eight clash with Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils, who beat Alexandra Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-1 4-1 earlier in the day. 

And Svitolina and Monfils continued their quest for glory with another victory, beating Siniakova and Patten 5-4 (8-6) 4-5 (3-7) 10-8 in an enthralling tie between the pairs. 

Statement win pic.twitter.com/hypPneXpSB

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 25, 2026

Carlos Alcaraz also made a winning return to action alongside Serena Williams, with the pair beating Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool 5-3 4-1 in 57 minutes. 

Alcaraz, who played in his first match since April against Otto Virtanen in Barcelona, will now face fourth seeds Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli for a spot in the semi-finals. 

Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz also suffered an early exit at the hands of Diana Shnaider and Casper Ruud, who emerged 4-2 4-1 victors. 

And there will be a new name on the trophy this year after defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori were beaten by Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev 1-4 4-1 11-9.