Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori successfully defend US Open mixed doubles against tennis' biggest stars

CNN

5 hours ago

This wasn't just a victory for Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. It also felt like a victory for all doubles tennis players.
Up against some of the game's biggest singles stars, Errani and Vavassori successfully defended their US Open mixed doubles title, defeating Iga Świątek and Casper Ruud 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 in Wednesday's final.
Critics of the reimagined format will feel a sense of justice that the Italian duo, the only doubles specialists in the competition, triumphed at the end of the condensed, two-day competition, earning $1,000,000 in prize money – five times more than last year.
'These two days will be really important for doubles in the future because we showed that doubles players are great players,' Vavassori told reporters after the match. 'I think this product can grow in the future … With better marketing (it) can become something better.'
This year's mixed doubles was moved to the week before the tournament itself, giving the world's top-ranked singles players like Świątek and Ruud the chance to take part.
The 16 pairs mostly played a shortened format of first to four games across three sets, with no advantage after deuce and a 10-point tie break instead of a full third set. Only in the final did the scoring go up to six games for the first two sets.
Inside a packed-out Arthur Ashe Stadium, a tie-break was ultimately needed to crown Errani and Vavassori as champions, the title sealed when Świątek failed to return a tricky half volley at the net.
For Errani and Vavassori, it capped off victories against Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz, Karolína Muchová and Andrey Rublev, and Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison. The final was the only time that they had dropped a set.
'I think in doubles we showed it's very important to know how to play doubles,' Errani told reporters. 'In doubles, it's not just serving good, hitting good, returning good. There are many other things that are not easy.
'We show that you have to think, be smart,' she added. 'In doubles, there are more things than hitting the ball. Singles has other things and doubles has another things. We show that we are good at doubles.'
This was Errani and Vavassori's third grand slam mixed doubles title, adding to victories at last year's US Open and this year's French Open.
Their path to the 2025 trophy was hardly smooth. Back in February when the new format was announced, they released a joint statement calling it a 'pseudo-exhibition' and 'profound injustice' which 'disrespect(s) an entire category of players.'
For their part, US Open organizers said that the new format would 'elevate mixed doubles with a bigger spotlight and provide a greater opportunity to inspire more people to play and grow the sport.'
On Wednesday, Vavassori admitted that he didn't think the pair would have been given a place in the tournament had they not released that statement.
However, many viewed the changed format as a success, drawing in bigger crowds who were eager to see some of the game's biggest names – the likes of Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper – play alongside and against each other.
'Arguably more crazy almost than a singles match … super loud,' was how Pegula, a singles finalist at last year's US Open, described the atmosphere.
'I think people love to see people competing and going hard,' she added. 'They come because they love tennis and they want to watch. I think the format, honestly, it was really fun … Seeing us compete in a different way was definitely exciting.'
Draper concurred, explaining that the whole event was 'a bit of a spectacle' in front of a big crowd, which included fashion industry icon Anna Wintour.
'People love sport,' he said. 'People especially in New York, they love getting into it. They love just watching good points and watching people competing hard and trying to win. I think they respect that. It's like a really nice environment to be in.'
It remains to be seen what format next year's mixed doubles will take, though Vavassori suggested that they could expand to 32 teams to include more doubles specialists.
'The schedule is very tough to organize. We have so many tournaments,' he said. 'But I think maybe one more round and you can put (in) so many other good players.
'Maybe you can put also the narrative about singles against doubles. Today was two doubles players at the top of the game and two singles players at the top of the game. It was a good matchup also for the crowd.'