New York (AFP) – US tennis chiefs announced a radical overhaul of the US Open’s mixed doubles on Tuesday, unveiling plans to stage the competition as a standalone 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 organizers said the mixed doubles event, using an amended rulebook, would now take place over two days of competition on August 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 wild-card 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 USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center’s prime Arthur Ashe Stadium and Louis Armstrong Stadium courts.
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“I could not be more excited to introduce this groundbreaking innovation to the 2025 US Open Championships,” US Tennis Association executive director Lew Sherr said in a statement. “We’ll be scheduling mixed doubles on the center stage and enabling more fans worldwide to enjoy the thrill of watching their favorite stars compete for this coveted Grand Slam Championship title.”
“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 organizers 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 Austrian former doubles world number one, 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 wildcards. I’m sorry, but the US Open now will not produce a bona fide mixed doubles winner,” McNamee wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Devalued from a Grand Slam title to an exo (exhibition). Let’s just say I’m in shock.”
Last year’s US Open mixed doubles winners, Italian duo Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, lambasted the decision in a statement on social media, labeling it a “profound injustice.” “Making decisions just following the logic of profit is profoundly wrong in some situations,” the duo wrote. “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. 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 organizers 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 August 24 to September 7.
© 2024 AFP
