Grand Slam singles champions such as Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys will pay some extra money by any standard – OK, a lot of extra money: $1 million to win the winning duo and try to win the trophy in the U.S. Open’s big, publicly hyped mixed mix match.
Meanwhile, the best matches in doubles aren’t that excited about last year’s mixed champion Sara Errani, who marked “sad” and “nonsense” in an interview with the Associated Press. She and Andrea Vavassori will defend their championship, the only real doubles team to play in the Flushing Meadows on Tuesday and Wednesday.
A year ago, only two senior singles players participated in the game.
“Like in the Olympics, they didn’t let the actual high jumps go, they had the basketball players go to the high jump because it was more “funny”. If you want to do that, I think you can, but you can’t award them medals,” Errani said. “You can’t have a Grand Slam doubles (trophy) and you can’t have a doubles player attend. … You rule out their sport. It’s dishonest.”
Who plays in the 2025 U.S. Open doubles game?
According to their joint single rankings, the highest seeds are Jessica Pegula of the 2024 U.S. Open and Jack Draper, a year ago, a semifinalist. He is his third companion after Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen and former No. 2 Paula Badosa were injured. Their initial opponents are probably the most anticipated pairing: five-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz and 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu.
Other teams include Sinner and 10-time major doubles champion 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 Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva.
“It’s going to be a real Grand Slam. The bonus is great,” said Fritz, who finished second in Sinner’s singles a year ago in Flushing Meadows. “We’re there 100% trying to win it.”
“Seeing the bonus, everyone likes it, ‘We’re going, no matter what.’
What is the difference between mixed doubles at the U.S. Open?
What’s the difference? Frankly: Everything. This includes the highest award of $1 million per year after Errani and Vavassori allocated $200,000.
Even the rules were changing until Wednesday’s final, with no goals instead of the third set, the match scored four games instead of six games. There are 16 teams, not 32 teams. The game is moving from the latter stage of the U.S. Open to the overlapping stage with singles, before the start of the main singles brackets on the next Sunday. Half of the fields are based on singles rankings, and the other half is selected by the American Tennis Association.
This is how single stars get involved. This is also why some people say the whole thing is a bit stupid.
Canadian Gabriela Dabrowski has two big titles at the 2023 U.S. Open and won the Women’s Doubles Trophy at the 2023 U.S. Open, trying to get into the field with Felix Auger-Aliassime, but they are not in the USTA’s universal card.
Dabrovsky said: “I think this is a real mixed doubles championship? No. I think this can help doubles sports? Is it OK? It can help this doubles? It can help this championship.
Why are some players upset about the changes in the U.S. openly mixed doubles?
Like Errani or Dabrowski, tag team players are not excited about being excluded and output on payday.
They also believe that doubling experts is often derogatory – even if the USTA believes this can help improve the popularity of doubles.
Joe Salisbury said: “When you get the biggest name to play doubles, it does get more attention.
Championship director Stacey Allaster opposes this trait.
“Let’s definitely clear: This is a Grand Slam champion. It’s not an exhibition,” Alaster said. “We sympathize with the doubles experts who don’t like this change. … (but) we know that when fans see top players playing games… it will inspire more fans not only to play games, but to play tennis, which will eventually develop the sport.”
