Swiatek, Ruud romp into US Open mixed doubles semis
Swiatek -- who on Monday had battled through a two-hour tussle with Jasmine Paolini to win the Cincinnati Open -- looked full of energy as she and Ruud powered into Wednesday's semi-finals.
Swiatek and Ruud needed just 39 minutes to dispatch the US pairing of Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe 4-1, 4-2 in their opening game at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and then reappeared roughly 20 minutes later to defeat Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti 5-3, 4-2 in their quarter-final clash.
The victories capped a gruelling 24 hours for Polish star Swiatek, who hot-footed it to the airport after Monday's win in Cincinnati and only arrived at her hotel in New York in the early hours of Tuesday.
'Honestly the last two days have felt like one day, but I'm super happy to be here,' Swiatek said, adding that her tight turnaround had helped her unwind after her exertions in Cincinnati.
'Honestly I think actually it's kind of nice for the recovery,' Swiatek said. 'To have another task and to not let yourself be lazy but also focused on the next exciting thing.'
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.
'I was happy to team up with Iga,' Ruud said afterwards. 'She's on the winning train these days so I'm just jumping on the train and let's see if we can win some more before the mixed doubles is over.
'I think everyone should show some appreciation to Iga today. She only got to her hotel 12 hours ago at 2.30am, and she's here playing.'
Alcaraz, Djokovic out
Swiatek and Ruud will meet top seeds Jessica Pegula of the United States and Britain's Jack Draper in Wednesday's semi-finals.
Pegula and Draper clicked smoothly to eliminate the glamour pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu 4-2, 4-2 in the first round before easing past Russia's Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva 4-1, 4-1 in the quarter-finals.
Medvedev and Andreeva had earlier romped past Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic in straight sets in the first round, winning 4-2, 5-3.
In other results on Tuesday, US tennis icon Venus Williams and partner Reilly Opelka exited against Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev, losing 4-2, 5-4.
Italy's reigning champions Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani ousted second seeds Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz 4-2, 4-2.
Earlier Tuesday, world number one Jannik Sinner's withdrawal from the mixed doubles was confirmed as expected. Sinner, who retired due to illness in the first set of his Cincinnati Open final with Alcaraz on Monday, was due to partner Katerina Siniakova in the doubles.
Sinner and Siniakova were replaced in the draw by the American duo of Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison.
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. - AFP
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Tennis-Shelton ready for New York spotlight at U.S. Open
Tennis - U.S. Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - August 19, 2025 Ben Shelton of the U.S. reacts during the round of 16 mixed doubles match with Taylor Townsend of the U.S. against Amanda Anisimova of the U.S. and Denmark's Holger Rune REUTERS/Kylie Cooper NEW YORK (Reuters) -Ben Shelton returns to Flushing Meadows with newfound confidence after claiming his biggest title and a career-high ranking two years after his charmed run to the U.S. Open semi-final. Shelton outlasted Russian Karen Khachanov 6-7(5) 6-4 7-6(3) in a tough fight to secure his first 1000-level trophy in Toronto and hopes that the win will kick start a new level of consistency in his game. "It's certainly going to push me to work harder," he said. "I feel like I have a good grasp now on the things that really work for me against guys who are playing some of the best tennis in the world, and the things that I need to continue to work on." Eager to show this was no fluke, Shelton battled his way to a respectable quarter-final exit at Cincinnati, snapping a streak in which the last three Canadian Open champions had crashed out in their Cincinnati openers. "I'm hungry. I'm in a good rhythm," Shelton said after reaching the final eight at the U.S. Open tune-up tournament, where he would ultimately run out of gas against Alexander Zverev 6-2 6-2. He arrived in New York ranked sixth in the world, a remarkable climb for the 22-year-old who had started the season outside the top 20 and who only two years ago was enjoying his moment of breakout stardom at his domestic major. Shelton put the tennis world on notice when he muscled his way into the U.S. semi-finals at the age of 20, becoming the youngest American man to reach the penultimate round in Flushing Meadows since Michael Chang in 1992. He subdued the competition with his extraordinary athleticism, sending over the fastest serve of the tournament at 149 miles per hour before crashing out to the eventual champion Novak Djokovic. Shelton, who picked up his maiden ATP title a month later, has built finesse to match his power in the two years since and will hope to recreate the magic of his charmed 2023 run when he returns to New York. "The more opportunities that you have, the more times you put yourself in the position to be playing against the best players in the world, you're only going to get better," he told reporters in Toronto. "My tennis IQ and my tennis mind is something that is getting better, and something that needs to continue to get better." The U.S. Open main draw begins on Sunday. (Reporting by Amy Tennery in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis)
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Tennis-Who are the other men's contenders to look out for at the US Open?
Aug 16, 2025; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Alexander Zverev (GER) awaits the serve from Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) during the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images/File Photo (Reuters) -The following are some of the other contenders for the men's singles title at the U.S. Open, which begins on Sunday: ALEXANDER ZVEREV (GERMANY) Ranking: 3 Alexander Zverev showed flashes of his best to reach the Australian Open final at the start of the year, but suffered a shock defeat to Arthur Rinderknech in the opening round of Wimbledon, after which he told reporters he felt "empty" and was considering therapy. He has since enjoyed a promising run in the North American hardcourt swing and will be desperate to finally end his Grand Slam duck with victory at the U.S. Open. The German reached the semi-finals of both ATP 1000 tournaments held this month, losing in three sets to Karen Khachanov in Toronto and then battling dizziness in his defeat by Carlos Alcaraz in Cincinnati. TAYLOR FRITZ (UNITED STATES) Ranking: 4 Fritz is looking to go one better than last year after falling to Jannik Sinner in the final but the American has struggled under pressure on a few occasions over the past few weeks. He was beaten in the quarter-finals in Washington by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, lost to compatriot Ben Shelton in the Toronto semi-finals and then suffered a shock defeat by qualifier Terence Atmane in Cincinnati. The 27-year-old must fully exploit his devastating serve if he hopes to become the first American man to win a major since Andy Roddick in 2003. JACK DRAPER (BRITAIN) Ranking: 5 When Jack Draper suffered a semi-final defeat by eventual champion Sinner in New York last year, he was ranked 25th in the world. The Briton has since gone from strength to strength on the tour and claimed the biggest title of his career at Indian Wells, while also reaching the final in Madrid, during a strong 2025 campaign. However, the past few months have not been easy on the 23-year-old. Faced with the immense burden of shouldering home hopes at Wimbledon, he lost in second round to Marin Cilic and has not played a singles match since due to an arm injury, likely leaving him slightly undercooked for the year's final Grand Slam. ALEX DE MINAUR (AUSTRALIA) Ranking: 8 Alex de Minaur has not had the most consistent season and has twice been bumped out of the top 10, but the Australian put in a heroic display in last month's Washington Open final, saving three match points to claim his first title of the year. He has a tour-leading 24 wins on hard courts this year and should get through the early rounds at Flushing Meadows easily enough. He has never gone past the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam though, and has a woeful 0-6 record against fellow top-10 players this year. FRANCES TIAFOE (UNITED STATES) Ranking: 17 Little has gone right for Frances Tiafoe in the past few months. The American was knocked out in the second round of Wimbledon before failing to string together more than a couple of wins in both DC and Toronto. He suffered another setback in his preparations for the U.S. Open during his fourth-round match against Holger Rune in Cincinnati when he was forced to retire due to a lower back injury. Tiafoe has a knack for turning up his game in New York, however, having reached the semis twice in the last three years. (Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
The Star
7 hours ago
- The Star
Tennis-Alcaraz arrives in New York red-hot and ready to reclaim top ranking
Aug 18, 2025; Cincinnati, OH, USA; Carlos Alcaraz (ESP) returns a shot against Jannik Sinner (ITA) during the Cincinnati Open at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images/File Photo BENGALURU (Reuters) -Carlos Alcaraz heads to the U.S. Open in his now-familiar role as chief challenger to defending champion Jannik Sinner and the Spaniard will be driven this year by the twin pursuit of Grand Slam glory and the world number one ranking. The 22-year-old won a tour-leading sixth title of the season in Cincinnati on Monday after Sinner retired from the final with illness while trailing 0-5 in the opening set and the result has turned up the heat in the rankings race ahead of the season's final major. Health permitting, all signs point to the duo meeting again in a major final and completing a season-defining trilogy after Alcaraz beat Sinner in an epic five-setter to retain his French Open trophy in June before surrendering his Wimbledon crown to the top-ranked Italian last month. Although Alcaraz has excelled on grass and clay, hardcourt consistency has eluded him on the grandest stage following his 2022 U.S. Open triumph, but the five-times major champion is approaching the New York showpiece starting on Sunday with renewed belief. "I'm feeling a lot of confidence, playing on a different surface," said Alcaraz, whose U.S. Open triumph three years ago ensured that he became the youngest world number one since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973. "New York is a place that I love playing in. It's where I got my first Grand Slam and I appreciate the love and support that I receive there every year that I go." Having won five of the last seven events he has played in, the red-hot Alcaraz can reclaim the top ranking at the end of the U.S. Open fortnight by outperforming Sinner, who will be defending 2,000 points as the champion. A shock second-round defeat by Dutch outsider Botic van de Zandschulp last year means Alcaraz will defend 50 points but the Spaniard is determined to avoid another early defeat in his bid to split the majors with Sinner for a second straight year. "It was disappointing, the level that I played there," Alcaraz said of his 2024 campaign. "So this year, I really want to show good tennis, my best tennis, and try to go as far as I can, enjoy as much as I can the love there. We'll see how it's going to be." The Cincinnati champion has gone on to capture the U.S. Open trophy in the previous two years, with Novak Djokovic prevailing in 2023 before Sinner's success last time, and a philosophical Alcaraz is hoping to keep that run going. "I'm accepting everything that's happening to me and trying to learn to be a better person and player from the experiences that I'm living in the last three to four months," he said on the Tennis Channel. "I'm doing great things that I'm really proud of, so I'm going to try and do the same things in New York." (Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
