NEW YORK: Veteran doubles experience overcame singles stardom in the early action at the US Open’s reimagined mixed doubles competition on Tuesday, as the event kicked off with a new format and a crop of new ticket holders.

Defending champions Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani downed 2022 Wimb­ledon singles winner Elena Rybakina and 2024 US Open singles finalist Taylor Fritz 4-2, 4-2. The Italians had earned wild card entries.

Twice Grand Slam doubles finalist Caty McNally and partner Lorenzo Musetti beat two-times US Open singles champion Naomi Osaka and 2016 men’s semi-finalist Gael Monfils 5-3, 4-2.

The year’s final major took a new approach to the event beloved by fans but often lost in a schedule that is dominated by singles action, moving the competition to five days before the main draw.

This year’s format saw eight entries based on the combined singles rankings of players and eight wild cards, a move that left some doubles competitors fuming but succeeded in bringing a sellout crowd to Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“The tactics in doubles are very important. They are amazing players, we all know that, but in doubles I think also the combination of the two players, we know each other so well, we are playing a lot of tournaments together,” said Vavassori.

“We’re also playing for all the doubles players that could not be here, so we tried to do our best.”

A logjam of cars waited long into the first round to enter the Flushing grounds as spectators abandoned their taxis, walking up the Grand Central Parkway to get inside the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

“We’re really excited. We heard it was like the Hollywood of mixed doubles,” said Boston native Krystyna Zaluski, who brought her 13-year-old son to the tournament for the first time. “This event made it so simple for us to come out here.”

That star power was dented slightly by the last-minute withdrawal of Italian Jannik Sinner, a day after illness forced the world number one to retire five games into his Cincinnati Open final.

Americans Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison replaced Sinner and partner Katerina Siniakova in the draw.

WEARY SWIATEK WINS OPENER

Meanwhile, Iga Swiatek shrugged off weariness to partner Casper Ruud to an opening victory. Swiatek and Ruud needed just 39 minutes to dispatch the US pairing of Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe 4-1, 4-2.

The victory capped a gruelling 24 hours for Polish star Swiatek, who late Monday battled to her first Cincinnati Open title in a near two-hour win.

Swiatek then hot-footed it to the airport for a flight to New York before appearing in Tuesday’s doubles opener.

Ruud and Swiatek had just enough time to fit in a quick practice before taking to the court in their first match as a doubles pairing.

In other early results on Tuesday, US tennis icon Venus Williams and partner Reilly Opelka exited against Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev, losing 4-2, 5-4.

This year’s US Open mixed doubles competition is being held over Tuesday and Wednesday in the week before the main singles draws get under way.

The tournament is using a modified scoring system, with short sets to four games, no-advantage scoring, tiebreakers at four-all and a 10-point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set.

The final will be a best-of-three set match to six games, featuring no-advantage scoring, with tiebreakers at six-all and a 10-point match tiebreaker instead of a third set, with the winning pairing pocketing $1 million.

Published in Dawn, August 20th, 2025