The US Open has revamped itself and made “profound” changes in its format for the mixed doubles tournament. Two weeks ago, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) announced a new format for their event and made it into a 15-day event like the Australian Open and the French Open. The finalized dates were revealed which are 24 August and 7 September.
However, an even bigger change was announced on 11 February regarding the mixed doubles category. They’ve announced that it would now be played as a stand-alone event before the start of the main grand slam event on 24 August. The mixed doubles are set to be held on 19-20 August, with a much bigger prize money being $1 million and also some changes in the scoring structure.
A total of 16 teams will take part in the event where eight will be seeded based on their individual performance in the singles category. The match duration will be shorter, the best of three sets will be considered and the tie-breaker will take place at 4-4 instead of 6-6. Only the finals will have a full-fledged Grand Slam match of the US Open with no-ad scoring and tiebreakers at 6-all. A 10-point match tiebreaker will also be used if necessary.
The organizers told the press, “With the shift also comes more opportunities for fans everywhere to enjoy watching their favourite stars compete for another Grand Slam title,”.
“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. We’re working closely with top players, many of whom are eager to be part of this historic change,” said Law Sherr, the executive director of USTA.
US Open Mixed Double Chaos: What Players Have To Say
While the organisers may have had an innocent cause, fans and players are not happy with the decision. Many have criticized the announcement, including the former champions, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. “Making decisions just following the logic of profit is profoundly wrong in some situations,” they said.
Jan Zielinski, the winner of various doubles titles including the Wimbledon said, “No communication with the players, no thought behind what it means to some people’s careers, no respect to the history and traditions. Sad to see.”
No communication with the players, no thought behind what it means to some peoples careers, no respect to the history and traditions. Sad to see. 🎪 https://t.co/tnWy9hqFry
— Jan Zielinski (@zielaczekk) February 11, 2025
Elen Perez, the winner of multiple WTA Doubles titles took to her X account and wrote, “Tell us that you think doubles players are trash, that tradition is over-rated and job opportunity is a thing of the past without actually saying it.”
Regarding the criticism, the USTA shared, “Yes, there’s some that will be disappointed that they won’t have the opportunity to compete in this event”
“On the other side, we know that there’s a huge opportunity to create more interest globally in doubles and there may be a cascading effect here, that the mixed creates a bigger spotlight on the men’s and women’s doubles when we get into that portion of the tournament.”
“We’ll have to see how that plays out, but we do know that our mixed competition historically has been competing with the men’s and women’s singles, and so the fields have suffered and the attention has suffered. This is a chance to give it a massive spotlight over two nights.” Sherr added.
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