Fury as tennis’ US Open chiefs announce mixed doubles revamp
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Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori with the US Open trophy after beating Donald Young and Taylor Townsend in the mixed doubles final of the US Open.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – United States tennis chiefs announced a radical overhaul of the US Open’s mixed doubles on Feb 11, unveiling plans to stage the competition as a stand-alone event in the week before the main men’s and women’s singles draws get under way.
In a dramatic move that was greeted with criticism in some quarters, US Open organisers said that the mixed doubles event, using an amended rulebook, would now take place over two days of competition on Aug 19-20 at Flushing Meadows.
The tournament will be made up of 16 teams, with eight teams earning direct entry based on their combined singles ranking playing alongside eight wildcard entrants.
Each match will be played as best-of-three sets, but sets will be abbreviated to first to four games, with no-advantage scoring, tiebreakers at four all and a 10-point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set.
The final will be best-of-three to six games, but also featuring no-advantage scoring, with tiebreaks at six games all and a 10-point match tiebreaker instead of a third set.
All matches will be played on the Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre’s prime Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium courts.
“I could not be more excited to introduce this ground-breaking innovation to the 2025 US Open championships. We’ll be scheduling mixed doubles on the centre stage and enabling more fans worldwide to enjoy the thrill of watching their favourite stars compete for this coveted Grand Slam championship title,” US Tennis Association executive director Lew Sherr said in a statement.
“This is the official US Open mixed doubles championship and, by giving the competition its own spotlight, we’re elevating mixed doubles to put an even greater focus on the incredible talent we have across the sport.”
US Open organisers said the move was designed to entice top singles players to play in the mixed doubles event – potentially limiting opportunities for doubles specialists.
Paul McNamee, the Australian former doubles world No. 1, was among critics of the shake-up, saying it would devalue the US Open mixed doubles title.
“Sets to four games in a Grand Slam? 16 teams with eight based on singles rankings and eight wild cards. I’m sorry, but the US Open now will not produce a bona fide mixed doubles winner. Devalued from a Grand Slam title to an exo (exhibition). Let’s just say I’m in shock,” he wrote on X.
Poland’s Jan Zielinski, a winner of the mixed doubles at the Australian Open and Wimbledon in 2024, described the revamp as “sad”.
“No communication with the players, no thought behind what it means to some people’s careers, no respect to the history and traditions,” he wrote on X. “Sad to see.”
The 2024 US Open mixed doubles winners, Italian duo Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, also lambasted the decision in a statement on social media, labelling it a “profound injustice”.
“Making decisions just following the logic of profit is profoundly wrong in some situations. In the last few weeks we received the news that the US Open mixed doubles tournament will be completely turned upside down, cancelled and replaced with a pseudo-exhibition focused only on entertainment and show,” the duo wrote.
“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.”
US Open organisers had already announced another change to the tournament recently, with the main draw for the fortnight now starting on a Sunday. This year’s singles tournament will be staged from Aug 24 to Sept 7. AFP
