At the US Open, stars team up for mixed doubles early

Carlos Alcaraz of Spain in his first round men’s singles match against Li Tu of Australia at Arthur Ashe Stadium during the U.S. Open tennis tournament at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, New York, Aug. 27, 2024. At this year’s U.S. Open, Alcaraz is partnering with Emma Raducanu in a revamped mixed doubles event this week. (Graham Dickie/The New York Times)

By David Waldstein

The U.S. Open never stands still. Almost every year, there is some innovation or twist intended to spice up the event: a new court or a new restaurant, or a bigger change like nighttime games or automated line calling.

But spectators this year are seeing perhaps the biggest change since the roof was installed atop Arthur Ashe Stadium nine years ago.

There is a new emphasis on mixed doubles (an event played with male-female teams), which is sure to add buzz and controversy — and money — to an already immensely popular and lucrative tournament.

There are only 16 teams in this year’s mixed doubles event, down from 32 in previous years. But instead of a host of relative unknowns, some of the biggest names in the sport are participating, and tickets are going fast.

Carlos Alcaraz is playing with Emma Raducanu. Madison Keys is partnering with Frances Tiafoe, and Venus Williams is teamed up with Reilly Opelka. It has been ages since that many boldfaced names entered mixed doubles, and the pairings and personalities are intriguing.

“We’re not in the matchmaking business,” Stacey Allaster, the U.S. Open tournament director, said last week. “We let the athletes do that themselves.”

For years, mixed doubles games were played in the final week of the tournament by so-called doubles specialists, who honed their craft but received little attention. The most famous players focused on singles, where the big money is.

The mixed doubles matches have usually been sparsely attended, and have rarely been featured on television. Doubles and mixed doubles are simply not as popular as singles.

Even fans who know that Novak Djokovic has 24 major titles or that Aryna Sabalenka is from Belarus might not be able to name the 2024 mixed doubles champion. (That was the team of Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, who were granted a wild-card entry to this year’s draw.)

This year, eight teams were admitted based on their combined singles rankings, and eight others — chosen by the U.S. Open organizers — received wild-card entries. Many of the top 10 men’s and women’s players in the world have committed to play in the abbreviated event being held Tuesday night and today, with the winners sharing a $1 million prize.

That is a fivefold increase in prize money from last year, which could help explain why players who normally skip doubles suddenly wanted in. And, now that mixed doubles is taking place during Fan Week (the week of qualifying rounds before the main draws begin), players will have at least three days off before the singles draw starts.

“We had even greater interest than we expected,” said Eric Butorac, the U.S. Tennis Association’s senior director for player relations and business development, and a former top doubles player himself.