U.S. Open’s New Version of Mixed Doubles Makes Watching More Entertaining for the Audience
Cindy Pu
The U.S. Open has introduced a new mixed doubles event designed to attract singles stars like Jannick Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, and Aryna Sabalenka, who have all shown interest in attending this event.
Eight of the sixteen pairs who have shown interest in playing in this doubles event have been automatically accepted. These pairs were determined by the combined singles ranking between the two players as of July 28. The other eight pairs will have to rely on wild cards to be able to play in the event.
Pairs like Carlos Alcaraz with Emma Raducanu, Novak Djokovic with Olga Danilovic, and Sara Errani with Andrea Vavassori all rely on wild cards because their combined singles rankings aren’t high enough. When Errani and Vavassori found out about the new mixed doubles, they made a statement on Instagram saying that the Italian pair didn’t think it was right for the U.S. Open to completely turn the tournament upside down and replace it with an event mainly focused on entertainment and profit.
Martina Navratilova, a 10-time mixed doubles Grand Slam champion, said at an interview that it isn’t fair that the U.S. Open administrators chose pairs by their ranks and are mocking the event by making it an entertainment exhibition instead of a proper tournament.
All the mixed doubles matches will take place in the Aurther Ashe Stadium or the Louis Armstrong Stadium from August 19 to 20, right before the main singles tournament on August 24.
A USTA spokesman told The Athletic that this new and reimagined tournament will hopefully inspire more of the young generation to play and expand tennis. They strive to make tennis as entertaining and accessible to the audience as possible.
This event gives top players a chance to come to New York a week earlier and win some extra money from sponsors before the main singles draw, and the last Grand Slam of the season, begins. They also want mixed doubles defending champions to have a chance at playing in this event. For example, the Italian pair Errani and Vavassori who won the recent French Open, want to be included as well. Which might mean that the U.S. Open might need to extend their number of pairs to over 16.
The USTA wants full stadiums filled with paying fans and sponsors. Which means they have to give the audience what they want, even if it means not giving all the players what they want. The association will most likely listen to the many complaints from players and try to adjust their list, so stadiums can be filled with fans, top players, and young players who have never even played on Grand Slam soil before!
