Serena Williams’ next move appears to be aimed at more than simply showing up in New York. After a brief Wimbledon comeback that ended with a knee issue, Williams’ coach Rennae Stubbs said the 44-year-old wants to play before the 2026 US Open rather than repeat the stop-start build-up that left her with only one singles match at the All England Club. Stubbs’ comments were about Williams’ goal, not an official tournament entry list or a public statement from Serena herself.
The most obvious hardcourt targets are the WTA 1000 National Bank Open in Toronto, which runs from August 2-13, and the Cincinnati Open, which runs from August 13-23. The US Open main draw begins August 30 in New York.
Serena Williams’ US Open build-up depends on her knee. Williams’ Wimbledon return ended with more questions than answers. She lost her first-round singles match to Australian Maya Joint 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-3, then withdrew from doubles with Venus Williams because of a knee problem. The sisters had received a wildcard and were due to face Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra in the first round before Serena said her knee was not ready to compete.
The injury is now the central issue in any US hardcourt plan. Stubbs said Williams does not want to arrive at the US Open the same way she arrived at Wimbledon, but added that any schedule will depend on how she is physically.
That makes Toronto and Cincinnati less about rankings points and more about evidence. Can Williams recover quickly enough? Can she handle back-to-back tournament weeks? Can she get enough competitive rhythm before Flushing Meadows without putting the knee under too much stress?
Why hard courts could help Serena. Stubbs suggested the shift from grass to hard courts may help Williams because the surface is more stable. That matters for a player whose Wimbledon movement was visibly affected and who later revealed that fluid had been drained from her knee after the singles match.
Hard courts have also been central to Williams’ career. She has won six US Open singles titles and built much of her legacy around the North American hardcourt swing. But at 44, the question is no longer whether she knows how to win in that environment. It is whether her body can give her enough matches to compete there again.
The Alcaraz mixed-doubles rumor remains unconfirmed. There is also a separate, more speculative storyline around Williams and Carlos Alcaraz possibly teaming up in mixed doubles at the US Open. That should be treated carefully. The idea has been discussed in tennis media, including as a possibility raised by Jon Wertheim, but there has been no confirmed announcement from Williams, Alcaraz, the USTA or the US Open that they will play together.
For now, the confirmed story is simpler and more important: Williams’ camp is looking at a pre-US Open hardcourt run, and her knee will determine how much of that plan becomes real.
What comes next. The next checkpoint is whether Williams appears on entry or wildcard plans for Toronto or Cincinnati. A Toronto appearance would give her a first hardcourt test at a WTA 1000 event. Cincinnati would offer another major tune-up immediately before New York.
If she plays both, it would mark a much more serious comeback push than Wimbledon, where her return was limited to one singles match and a doubles withdrawal. If she skips both, the US Open question becomes harder: whether Serena Williams can realistically return to Grand Slam singles with no hardcourt match play and a knee issue still hanging over the story.
