Semifinals set in revamped US Open mixed doubles tournament

New York – The redesigned US Open mixed double tournament – which has led to many criticisms for everything, in its format (shorter matches) in its field (only 16 teams) – started on Tuesday and is already in its last oven, with the trophy and a price of $ 1 million in play on Wednesday evening.

Casper Ruud and Iga Swiatek, the seeds n ° 3, easily won their two games and will face the seeded duo of Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper in a semi-final on Wednesday. The defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the only traditional mixed double team of the rapid event, meet Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison – who were not even the draw until Jannik Sinner and Katerina Siniakova retire Tuesday morning because of the sinner’s disease – in the other.

“These are the official double mixed. If we arrive in the final tomorrow, I am sure that everyone will be determined to try to win this thing,” said Ruud.

With most singles players, some who rarely play double, and an unusual rating system, it looked so much like an exhibition that Pegula had to scold the Draper partner when he called it just in their press conference.

“He shouldn’t say that, but it’s okay,” said Pegula, adding later that “it’s not an exhibition.”

The champions of the open American singles, Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, were quickly eliminated with a defeat of 4-2, 4-2 against Pegula and Draper. Seeds n ° 2, Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina, also quickly went to a defeat of 4-2, 4-2 against Errani and Vavassori. Novak Djokovic and his teammate Olga Danilovic were also one and made.

These types of champions in the big slam are exactly the types of players that the US Tennis Association was looking for when it reorganized the tournament and reduced it by 32 teams.

Now played over two days, the mixed doubles start well before the start of the tournaments in single Sunday, with the organizers believing that the simple stars would be more interested in playing if that would not interfere with their rest and their recovery during this event.

Traditional double specialists such as Errani and Vavassori were among the biggest criticism of changes. The price of $ 1 million to the winning team would be a huge boost to double the players, but most of them have never had the chance to compete this year. Errani and Vavassori said they were playing for these teams, but also recognized the potential advantages of the new event.

“I must say that in all, there are always positive points and negatives. But the positive points are sure that the stadium was wrapped in the second match,” said Vavassori. “It is a great thing that the doubles are seen by more people. I must give them credit. I also said it before, playing this format is ideal for doubles and mixed doubles to develop in the future.”

Errani and Vavassori did not even know if they would have the possibility of defending their title in the new format, which gives eight automatic teams according to the combined classification of the players. The other spots are Jokers awarded by the USTA.

When Errani and Vavassori won the title last year in Flushing Meadows, he was at the end of the second week of the tournament in a stadium with many empty seats.

The new calendar has double mixed played now while the only competitions generally take place qualification events for single tournaments. Entrance to the field during what the USTA calls “Fan Week” is free, so the stadium of the Louis Armstrong stadium was packed for the opening match, a much larger crowd than the mixed doubles are generally pulling.

Some fans may not even realize that the match was heading for a second set after Errani and Vavassori took the opening in just 19 minutes. In the traditional tennis score, they should have won six games instead of four to win the set.

The sets on four games with a 10-point equal match break instead of a third set were to be used in the semi-finals. Only the final would look like a regular match, with sets in six games, equality breakage at 6 and a 10 -point equality break for a third set.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.