A couple has arrived: how is the new mixed media format going at the US Open

The organizers of the US Open are trying to give a new lease of life to the mix by attracting top tennis players and a million dollar bonus for the first place. As a result, many stars of the tour showed up for the tournament, including Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Sventek, Novak Djokovic, as well as three Russians. However, the most popular singles players did not reach the semifinals, leaving the audience at a loss about the prospects of a new tennis project. Daniil Medvedev paired with Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev with Czech Karolina Mukhova stopped at the 1/4 finals stage.

Full stands

The first 12 matches of the new mixed tournament at the US Open left a very mixed impression. On the one hand, six days before the start of the main draw, we saw a lot of singles celebrities on the courts of Flushing Meadows, which probably became a special dish for tennis gourmets. On the other hand, it is unclear how the action presented to the public differs from the exhibition show competitions that were previously held before the start of the US Open. There is a strong feeling that by assigning an official status to the entertainment event and offering a million dollars to the winners, the organizers simply merged the tradition of drawing a full-fledged mixed title that had existed in New York since 1887. So far, the revolutionary option looks fresh, but its long-term prospects are not visible.

Even at the stage of the project, the updated format caused a lot of criticism — for the shortened rules of matches (up to four games), reducing the list of participants to 16 pairs and for inviting singles stars to the detriment of the titled doubles. And on the very first day of the tournament, many of the fears were confirmed. Only one of the 12 matches lasted more than an hour (Muzetti and McNally defeated Osaka and Monfils in 68 minutes), and none of the matches were played in three sets. The first rackets of the world Yannick Sinner and Arina Sobolenko, promising to participate, eventually withdrew. The Italian logically refused to mix after the agonizing final of the Masters in Cincinnati, because even his health is not ironclad, and in order to maintain leadership in the ranking, Yannick needs to defend his singles title.

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Rublev spent 3.5 hours on the court, Khachanov is in the best shape in the last few years.

Due to Sinner's refusal, his Czech partner Katerina Sinyakova suffered the most, and Americans Daniel Collins and Christian Harrison, who were pulled out of the reserve, famously reached the semifinals, confirming once again that participation in the new tournament does not require special preparation and teamwork, and the ability to perform in pairs is more important than individual class. Harrison, for example, currently has no rating at all in the individual category, and in pairs he mostly plays at the challenger level. Well, the main performance on the first day was given by last year's American mixed martial arts champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. This duo, who got into the application only after a scandal with the organizers, easily proved their superiority, dealing with Andrei Rublev and Karolina Mukhova, among others. (4:1, 5:4) — also experienced greenhouses.

— We are playing for all the greenhouses who could not perform here. We try to show our best tennis," Vavassori said after defeating Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz in the first round. (4:2, 4:2). — Tactics in doubles play a very important role. There are a lot of strong players here, but Sarah and I often play together and communicate off the court, which is important. The new format has its pros and cons. The advantage is that the stadium was full for the second match. It's great that more people have seen the doubles. We must pay tribute to the organizers. This option is great for the development of doubles and mixed doubles in the future.

As for the packed stands, the secret is simple. Everyone was allowed to attend the matches on Tuesday for free. And this may have become the only economical opportunity for New York tennis fans to see live players of the caliber of Carlos Alcaraz and Igi Sventek. By the way, the latter can be considered the main character of the first day of the competition. After flying 900 km after the victorious evening final in Cincinnati, the Polish woman went to training at 10 a.m. the next day and then helped her Norwegian teammate Kasper Ruud win two matches in a row and reach the semifinals.

Passed Novak

Perhaps the format of the "fast four" seems dynamic and promising to some. Previously, it was tested at the final youth tournaments and in the UTS exhibition league. However, this is clearly a different kind of tennis, and how appropriate it is at TBS, where five—set matches are still in use, is a big question. On the other hand, there is an obvious trend towards creative competitive solutions outside the usual calendar. There is the January United Cup (also with mixed doubles matches), the September Laver Cup, the October Six Kings Slam in Riyadh, and now the experimental August mixed tournament in New York. It is obvious that tennis is cramped in the current framework, despite complaints about the workload of the players. And attempts to come up with something new in this field can only be welcomed.

However, the main question is: how long will the singles leaders agree to participate in an event where they have virtually no chance against professional doubles and which clearly distracts them from systematic preparation for the main tournament? A lot will depend on how Sventek, Pegula, Alcaraz, Shelton, Djokovic and other top players will perform in singles at the US Open 2025. If they fail and start complaining that the mixtape interfered with their mindset for the singles draw, then next time the organizers will definitely not assemble a star cast. Even now, there have been a lot of refusals, and in the future they risk becoming widespread.

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Rublev will have to defend last year's final, and Schneider will defend the semifinals.

As for the results for the Russians, Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev finally managed to win their first joint victory. Both are healthy and cheerful, which is encouraging in the light of recent events.

— I am very grateful to Mirra that she doesn't put pressure on me. We played very calmly," Daniel commented on his first—round victory over Serbs Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic. (4:2, 5:3).

In this match, the Russians won a set point with the score 1:3 in the second set, but in the quarterfinals, their luck ran out — Pegula and Draper were clearly on a roll, knocking out our pair. (4:1, 4:1). The 2020 Olympic champion in mixed doubles Andrey Rublev and Czech Karolina Mukhova also scored one victory (over veteran Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka — 4:2, 5:4) and then could not resist the pressure of Errani and Vavassori.