Top Players Join U.S. Open Mixed Doubles

Nine of the top 10 men’s and women’s singles players want to play in the mixed doubles event. Only 8 of the 16 teams will get automatic spots, based on their combined singles rankings as of July 28. Some exciting teams, like U.S. Open singles winners Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, and Novak Djokovic with Olga Danilović, will need wild cards to play. Wild cards are special spots given to players or teams to join a tournament even if they don’t qualify based on rankings or regular rules. The same goes for Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, who won last year but are ranked outside the top 200 in singles. When the new format was announced in February, the Italian team said on Instagram that making decisions just for money is wrong. They also said the U.S. Open mixed doubles is being changed too much and turned into more of a show than a real sports competition.

“We see it as a profound injustice that disrespects an entire category of players. We don’t know at the moment if we’ll have the chance to defend our title, but we hope this remains an isolated case.” Martina Navratilova, a 10-time Grand Slam mixed doubles champion (on top of 18 major titles in singles and 31 in women’s doubles), said in a video interview at the time. This shows that they believe that this is very unfair and disrespectful to many players. They’re not sure if they’ll even get a chance to defend their point, but they hope this kind of situation doesn’t happen again.

In a statement to The Athletic, a U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) spokesperson said they understand the concerns from doubles players and know that change is hard. But they believe this new version of the Mixed Doubles Championship will give the event more attention and help grow the sport by getting more people interested in playing. The matches before the final will be shorter: best of three sets, with sets going to 4 games instead of 6, and a sudden-death point if the score is tied at deuce. If the score reaches 4-4, there will be a tiebreak. If teams split the first two sets, the third set will be a 10-point tiebreak. The final match will be longer: regular sets to 6 games with tiebreaks at 6-6, and again, a 10-point tiebreak instead of a full third set.

In the end, the U.S. Open’s new mixed doubles format is drawing big names and sparking strong reactions. While some see it as a fun way to bring more attention to mixed doubles and grow the sport, others feel it’s unfair and more about entertainment than real competition. With wild cards still available, there’s still time for more top players.