File-Sara Errani, of Italy, and Andrea Vavassori, of Italy, hold the championship trophy after defeating Taylor Townsend, of the United States, and Donald Young, of the United States, in the final mixed double of the American open tennis championships, Thursday, September 5, 2024, in New York. (AP photo / Julia Nikhinson, file)
The champions of the Simple of the Grand Slam such as Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys will play for a little additional money – OK, a lot of additional money, by any level: 1 million dollars in the winning duo – and trying to get their hands on a trophy in the Mixed Double Tournament of open.
The best of the best in doubles, on the other hand, are not so excited by what one of the mixed champions of last year in New York, Sara Errani, labeled “sad” and “nonsense” in an interview with the Associated Press. She and Andrea Vavassori, who will defend their title, are the only real double competition in competition Tuesday and Wednesday at Flushing Meadows.
Read: Venus Williams gets open doubles open.
A year ago, only two players in simple very classified participated.
“It would be as if, at the Olympic Games, they had not left the riders in height and that basketball players would compete in high jump because it is more” interesting “. If you want to do it, I guess you can, but you cannot assign them medals, “said Errani. “You cannot have a double of the Grand Slam (trophy) and not let players participate in double. … You exclude them from their sport. It’s dishonest.”
Who plays in the US Open 2025 mixed double mixed tournament?
The best seeds, based on their simple combined rankings, are Jessica Pegula, finalist of the US Open 2024, and Jack Draper, semi-finalist a year ago. He is on his third partner after the Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen and the former No. 2 Paula Badosa withdrew from injuries. Their initial opponents could be the most anticipated twinning: the five -time champion Slam Alcaraz and the US Open 2021 winner Emma Raducanu.
The other teams include Sinner and 10 times champion of double adults Katerina Siniakova, Swiatek and Casper Ruud, Keys and Frances Tiafoe, Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka, Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina, Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils, Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic and Medvedev and Mirrava and Olga.
“It will count like a real big home. The prize is great,” said Fritz, a finalist of Sinner in Simple of Flushing Meadows a year ago. “We are 100% to try to win it.”
Read: Alex Eala hungry for more, targets the open breakthrough
Tiafoe said: “Seeing the price, everyone was:” We are going, whatever happens. “”
What is different in mixed doubles at the US Open?
What is different? In other words: everything. This includes the first price of $ 1 million a year after Errani and Vavassori divided $ 200,000.
Even the rules change, with sets played in four games instead of six to the final on Wednesday, a score without AD and equality breaks instead of a third set. There are 16 teams instead of 32. The matches were moved from the last stages of the US Open, overlapping with singles, before the start of Sunday of the main media next Sunday. Half of the land is based on simple rankings, and the other half was simply chosen by the US Tennis Association.
This is how singles stars were involved. This is also why some say that everything is a bit silly.
Gaby Dabrowski, a Canadian who owns two major mixed double championships and obtained the trophy of female doubles at the US Open of 2023, tried to put himself on the ground with Felix Auger-Aliassime, but they were not part of the selections of wild card of the USA.
Read: Carlos Alcaraz, Emma Raducanu is associated with the United States Mixed in Double
“Do I think it’s a real mixed double championship? No. Could I think that could help the sport of doubles at the end?
Why are some players upset by changes in American mixed doubles?
Like Errani or Dabrowski, double players are not delighted to be excluded and lose a day of pay.
They also think that it is generally degrading to double specialists – even if USTA thinks that this can help strengthen the popularity of doubles.
“When you get the biggest names playing doubles, it attracts a little more attention,” said Joe Salisbury, a British player who won two Grand Chelem titles in a double mixed and four in male double, “but I’m not sure that it is good for the double event, because it is not really an appropriate event. It is only a two -day exhibition.”
The Director of the Stacey Allaster tournament opposes this type of characterization.
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“Let’s be absolutely clear: it is a Grand Chelem championship. It is not an exhibition,” said Allaster. “We are sympathetic to the double specialists who do not like this change. … (But) we know that when fans see the best players in competition … It will inspire more fans not only attending, but to play tennis, and it will eventually develop sport.”
