The Big Winners of U.S. Open Mixed Doubles

After an internal memo showed nervousness, the U.S. Open's mixed doubles showcase ultimately sparkled under the lights.

NEW YORK — The U.S. Open stuck the landing on its U.S. Open mixed doubles extravaganza, packing the massive Arthur Ashe Stadium full of fans for a night session of an event that had consistently drawn paltry crowds for decades prior, effectively making something out of nothing by revamping the format completely to showcase star players who can fill arenas.

The tennis on the final night of the mixed doubles event, strong across both semifinals and the final, ended with Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori defending their title. Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud fought back from the brink to win the second set and push the established Italian pair into a third set tiebreak before the champions prevailed 6–3, 5–7, [10–6].

Everybody won, pretty much. The Open, and particularly senior director Eric Butorac, mined a diamond out of a previously ignored scrap heap. Audiences have surely never been anything like that, in-person or on television, for sessions that only included mixed doubles.

The singles players who participated had entirely positive things to say about the experience.

“I really wanted to play another match,” Jessica Pegula said after losing in the night’s first semifinal. “I had so much fun.”

I also heard many comments from fans who were impressed by how the women were holding up in many of the rallies against male players; those sorts of reminders that these elite female athletes can hold their own remain important for women’s tennis, both culturally and commercially.

And, surely loudest of all today, the doubles defenders saw people watching dedicated doubles sessions more than they have perhaps ever before—and they saw two doubles specialists prevail, which was necessary vindication for their arguments about the exclusion of other specialists.

“We were the team that could lose everything,” Vavassori said after the win of the pressure he felt. “If we lose against Fritz-Rybakina [in the first round], it would not have been good a spot for doubles. I think everyone was thinking we would have lose against them. So to prove they were wrong, it’s something that was important for us.”

But before the event began this week, an internal document shared with Bounces reveals, there was uncertainty and perhaps a bit of desperation within the USTA about how the event might look if fans didn’t show up as hoped, leading to an extraordinary memorandum encouraging various U.S. Open staff to be courtside seat fillers.

To read this document and more about the finish of this historic mixed doubles venture—and also some information about what the Australian Open is planning—please subscribe to Bounces! -Ben