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US Open announces radical mixed doubles change as event targets top singles players

US Open announces radical mixed doubles change as event targets top singles players

Independent11-02-2025

The US Open has announced a radical overhaul of its mixed doubles event – with the competition moving to two days in qualifying week in an attempt to attract top singles players.
The mixed doubles will take place between 16 pairs, halving the number of entrants from last year's event, and will be staged on the two biggest courts, Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong, over Tuesday 19 August and Wednesday 20 August.
It means that the mixed doubles champions will be decided before even the draw for the singles events are confirmed.
The scoring system, until the final, will be sets played to four games with sudden death deuce and a tiebreak at 4-4, with a 10-point tiebreak instead of the third set. The final will be the same but with normal six-game sets.
Most controversially for tour doubles players, eight pairs will earn entry based on their combined singles ranking with the other eight pairs decided by the US Open's wildcard committee.
Top American singles players Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz have already committed to the event. Six-time Grand Slam doubles champion Rajeev Ram criticised the entry process, with the world's best doubles players likely to miss out on playing mixed doubles in favour of top singles players.
The prize money for the winning pair will also rise to $1m, an increase of $800,000 from 2024.
'This is something we're really excited about,' Lew Sherr, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) chief executive, told The Athletic.
'I'm hopeful this becomes a new franchise and tentpole in tennis, not just at the U.S. Open, but elsewhere and throughout the year to attract more folks.
'It truly is something unique in sport where you have the best athletes, male and female, competing on the same field of play at the same time against one another. It doesn't exist in other professional sports.
'This is not an exhibition. This is a Grand Slam championship with significant prize money at stake. And we think it is unique and singular in sports. Our broadcasters all feel the same way.'
Sherr added that the success of an exhibition 'Mixed Madness' event in the build-up to last year's US Open, which was won by Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas, encouraged executives to make the radical move.
'From every reaction that we received, including broadcasters, players, it was unequivocally a success,' he added.
'That emboldened us to go further, which is where we are today.'
The semifinals and final will air on ESPN2 in the US, while matches will be made available to Sky Sports and therefore viewers in the UK.
The announcement comes a few weeks after the Grand Slam held in New York confirmed a Sunday start date, extending the tournament to 15 days in line with the Australian Open and French Open. Wimbledon, however, will not be following suit, as confirmed by Tim Henman.

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Why Oakmont is the world's scariest golf course
Why Oakmont is the world's scariest golf course

Telegraph

time26 minutes ago

  • Telegraph

Why Oakmont is the world's scariest golf course

It had not happened to Paul Casey before and has not happened to anyone since. When the Englishman walked towards the recorder's hut in the 2007 US Open, his fellow pros on the practice green put down their putters and delivered a collective round of applause. Casey had not won – it was only the Friday – but with a 66 he had, for one day only, conquered Oakmont. 'That was a one-off, not just my score, but the reaction from the guys,' Casey told Telegraph Sport. 'Anywhere else and you shoot a good score and all you get from them is a grunt of 'Well done'. It just shows the difficulty of Oakmont. It bites and it bites hard.' Indeed, the joke in the clubhouse is that the 18 holes would be more appropriately placed in Transylvania than Pennsylvania. The members cherish its reputation as the hardest course on the major rotas – maybe too much – and love to repeat the statement of the founder's son, WC Fownes: 'Let the clumsy, the spineless and the alibi makers stand aside.' When his father, Henry Clay Fownes, ­designed the layout in 1903 he did so with the intent of replicating the ­unyielding nature of the links he ­encountered during his formative years in Britain. Fownes was not thinking major headaches for the multi-millionaire superstars of the next century, but only of the locals at that time and to this day they are unique in demanding their greenstaff ensure it is kept at championship severity. Another quip in the spikes bar is that the greens – described by Jack Nicklaus as 'the quickest and most daunting in the world' – are actually slowed down for US Open week. At least, the eavesdroppers ­assume it is a quip. Gilbert Hanse is not so sure. The renowned architect was brought in a few years ago to update the layout but was definitely not handed carte blanche. He was given one order from the club: 'It better not be easier when you're done.' Jim Furyk was born in Pittsburgh and knows the Oakmont denizens well. 'I don't know if they're gluttons for punishment, but they are very proud of their course and the fact that it's hosted more US Opens than any other,' Furyk, twice a runner-up here, said. 'I think a lot of them hold memberships at other clubs so as not to get their rear end kicked all the time.' They cannot wait to see their pride and joy taking lumps out of the game's elite. They are golfing ghouls, the type of sadists who would be minded to crowd on the bridges on the M6 just to watch the crashes, which is ironic as there is an actual motorway going through the middle of Oakmont Country Club. The course is elevated, so the drivers have no idea what they are zooming past. But if they turn off the radio and open their windows they might hear the wails coming from up above. Rory McIlroy shot an 81 in practice – ' I birdied the last two and felt I played well ' – and Scottie Scheffler has been similarly flummoxed. 'This is probably the hardest golf course that we'll play,' the world No 1 said. 'Maybe ever.' The ferocity of the challenge is written all over the scorecards. In its 98-year status as a US Open venue, 1,385 players have teed it up and only 28 have finished under par, according to the United States Golf Association. What makes it such a fearsome test? Four factors. The tightness of the fairways (at an average of 27 yards wide); the thickness of the rough (five inches tall and extra juicy); the malevolence of the bunkers (175 in number and callously deep); and the slopes and speed of the greens. The latter defines everything. The unparalleled putting surfaces – if you think Augusta's have gradients, they are but salt flats compared to these pistes – are so difficult to hold the ball on that the golfer must be playing their approach from the fairway. Nightmare fuel. 😱 #TeamTaylorMade — TaylorMade Golf (@TaylorMadeGolf) June 10, 2025 Saying that, those errant off tee will only be chopping out from the rough anyway. And the thick stuff surrounding the greens means that you will see pitches travelling a few inches. There are hundreds of spotters, but the wise money is at least a few balls being lost in the cabbage. And there is no first cut, so this could occur a matter of feet from the fairway. With four putts an inevitability, expect fury from the participants. And if it does not rain, mutiny could be in the air. 'The fairways have strong slopes, making them extra narrow if firm, ' Paul McGinley, the former Ryder Cup captain and Sky pundit said. 'The greens are the fastest and most undulating in golf. Firm ground conditions would produce scoring carnage.' McGinley predicts a five-under winning total if the thunderstorms strike. But the forecasters say that it is 50-50. If the weather remains warm. McGinley thinks five-over could be the number as the galleries salute the first over-par major champion in seven years. That would of course raise the question, did they go too far? Well, the USGA is the arch master of the major cock-up so it would not be too great a surprise. It would be a crying shame, however, if negativity hit such a great course, with the iconic 120-yard 'Church Pews' bunker that runs between the third and fourth, and a cast-list of winners that reads like a golfing scripture. No doubt, it is fun to watch experts suffer and see them experience our own hacker nightmares, but when a track like this boasts a 301-yard par three (the eighth) then it only heightens the suspicion that the organisers and, in this case, the host club, are going out of their way to make the top flight look stupid. So much for the USGA's age-old promise that 'we are not trying to humiliate the best players in the world – we are simply trying to identify them'. . @TyrrellHatton vs. the rough at Oakmont. 😂 #USOpen — PING GOLF (@PingTour) June 10, 2025 The competitors should simply be thankful to their predecessors who threatened to boycott the 1962 US Open. The likes of Arnold Palmer demanded that they stop furrowing the bunkers with cynically shaped rakes known as ''the devil's backscratcher'. The metal instrument came with heavy tines which created two- to three-inch ridges. The pros were so infuriated that one commented: 'Those aren't bunkers, they are places to plant potatoes.' So Oakmont made a concession. But just the one. Top 10 toughest courses in golf 10. Augusta National, Georgia Masters: 1934-present Next to Muirfield and perhaps Turnberry, the home of the Masters is the best course on the majors rota. Demanding, unique and stunningly beautiful. 9. Royal Birkdale, England The Open: 1954, 1961, 1965, 1971, 1976, 1983, 1991, 1998. 2008, 2017 The best course in England is also the toughest if Mother Nature is in a links type of mood. Rolling through the dunes, the layout offers the complete challenge. If a links can be described as unfair then this is it. 8. Olympic Club, San Francisco US Open: 1955, 1966, 1987, 1998, 2012 Staged the 1955 US Open, which many believe presented the toughest post-war major challenge. The rough can be brutal, which is a problem as the fairways are tight. The slick, undulating greens only add to the torture. 7. Shinnecock Hills, New York US Open: 1896, 1986, 1995, 2004, 2018 Brilliant Long Island layout really does not need tricking up as the USGA stupidly did on the weekend of the 2004 US Open, neglecting to water the greens. If it is windy, then be prepared to be attacked from all directions. 6. Whistling Straits, Wisconsin US PGA: 2004, 2010, 2015 A merciless Pete Dye design. The brute on the shores of Lake Michigan is incredibly rugged, boasting more than 1,000 bunkers. A man-made links that is ultra challenging if Mother Nature is in one of her moods. 5. Bethpage Black, New York US Open: 2002, 2009. US PGA: 2019 This public course comes with a sign warning that ordinary members of the public would be wise not to play it. Many believe this Long Island eye-strainer is the toughest course in the United States for handicappers, with huge bunkers and small greens. It hosts this year's Ryder Cup. 4. Winged Foot, New York US Open: 1929, 1959, 1974, 1984, 2006, 2020. US PGA: 1997 When asked what the difficulty rating out of 10 he would give the New York State layout, Jack Nicklaus famously replied '11, or maybe 12'. At the 2006 US Open, it was a nightmare to get up and down from around the greens. 3. Kiawah Island, South Carolina US PGA: 2012, 2021 Host course of the infamous 1991 'War On The Shore' Ryder Cup, this Pete Dye creation in South Carolina boasts some stunning holes, especially the par-three 17th. If the wind is up it is a terrifying test. 2. Carnoustie, Scotland The Open: 1931, 1937, 1953, 1968, 1975, 1999, 2007, 2018. The beast on the Open rota. Jack Nicklaus says it is the hardest course in the world and if the elements comply then he is probably right. At the mercy of the North Sea, the weather whips in across a barren landscape. 'Carnasty', as it is known. 1. Oakmont, Pennsylvania US Open: 1927, 1935, 1953, 1962, 1973, 1983, 1994, 2007, 2016. US PGA: 1922, 1951, 1978 The jewel of Pittsburgh is a fantastic challenge which borders on the unfair if its incredibly undulating greens are too fast. It is the only course where the USGA asks the club to slow down the greens for the pros. Deep bunkers are sadistically placed.

MLB roundup: Eugenio Suarez, D-backs slam Mariners
MLB roundup: Eugenio Suarez, D-backs slam Mariners

Reuters

time3 hours ago

  • Reuters

MLB roundup: Eugenio Suarez, D-backs slam Mariners

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McCutchen's homer was his 241st in a Pirates uniform, which passed Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente for third on the franchise's all-time list. Ke'Bryan Hayes added two hits and two stolen bases while Falter (5-3) gave up five hits and one walk while fanning three. Heriberto Hernandez produced his first career homer and a double to pace the Marlins, who have dropped eight of 10. Cal Quantrill (3-7) surrendered six hits and four runs (three earned) over five innings. Guardians 11, Reds 2 Carlos Santana celebrated the 15th anniversary of his major league debut with his sixth career grand slam as host Cleveland rolled over Cincinnati. Logan Allen (4-4) gave up two runs on four hits over six innings with six strikeouts and one walk as the Guardians wrapped up the Ohio Cup with a 1-5 record. Lane Thomas laced three hits, including a three-run homer, and Jose Ramirez extended his on-base streak to a career-high 37 games with a double. 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Angels 6, Athletics 5 Jo Adell slammed a two-run homer to highlight a six-run sixth as Los Angeles rallied to beat the Athletics and sweep their three-game series in Anaheim, Calif. Adell's seventh homer in the last 11 games capped the Angels' rally. Jorge Soler added a two-run single off reliever Grant Holman (4-2) in the sixth. Kyle Hendricks (4-6) gave up seven hits and three runs (two earned) in six innings. Brent Rooker went 4-for-5 with two homers, a double, three runs and three RBIs for the Athletics. A's starter JP Sears allowed four hits and two runs over 5 1/3 innings. He struck out a season-high nine with no walks. Dodgers 5, Padres 2 Teoscar Hernandez cracked a three-run homer to snap a sixth-inning tie as Los Angeles earned a series win over host San Diego. Freddie Freeman started the winning rally with a one-out infield single off Adrian Morejon (3-3). Jeremiah Estrada relieved and walked Will Smith, and then Hernandez blasted a fastball over the center field wall for his 11th homer. Lou Trivino (2-0) got the win with a perfect fifth and Alex Vesia, the eighth Los Angeles pitcher of the game, collected his third save by striking out the side in the ninth. The Padres totaled four hits and six walks and struck out seven times. --Field Level Media

Paige Spiranac sets pulses racing in revealing outfit as golf glamour girl previews US Open
Paige Spiranac sets pulses racing in revealing outfit as golf glamour girl previews US Open

Daily Mail​

time4 hours ago

  • Daily Mail​

Paige Spiranac sets pulses racing in revealing outfit as golf glamour girl previews US Open

Paige Spiranac has left fans in awe once again after previewing this week's US Open while wearing a very revealing outfit. The golf beauty offered her thoughts on the major championship over in Pennsylvania, where the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy will battle it out at Oakmont Country Club. And just 24 hours out from the opening day, Spiranac - who boasts one million followers on X - took to the platform to preview this week's action in a stunning white and floral-patterned dress. She said in a video message: 'This is going to be a grueling test of golf. Oakmont is well bunkered with firm, fast greens and a thick rough thicker than a bowl of Oatmeal. It is going to be a true test from start to finish, every single shot.' When assessing her underdog picks for the tournament, Spiranac added: 'If you're looking at some dark horses, I'm liking Harris English and Ben Griffin. 'I'm looking for carnage this week and fingers crossed that we actually get an over-par winner.' US Open preview⛳️ — Paige Spiranac (@PaigeSpiranac) June 11, 2025 Spiranac has made a name for herself in the world of golf thanks to her eye-catching snaps in recent years, which has seen her gain a huge following online. But the social media sensation has landed herself a new gig after revealing last month that she will be stepping into a high-profile role in an up-and-coming golf league. The 32-year-old, who failed to make in on the LPGA Tour, is taking her golf knowledge to the Grass League - the first high-stakes par 3 golf league - where she will look to translate her social media success to the front office. In her typical glamorous fashion, the two-time Swimsuit Illustrated swimsuit model announced that she is now a 'suit' in a video on X. 'I got some big, high-powered executive job with Grass League, and they were like, "No, no, no, we see through your act. We know that you're a marketing and branding genius and that you pioneered this entire industry, and that you're actually good at golf,"' she joked in the video. 'And all this time I though I' just go down in history as the golf girl with a great set of t***,' she quipped.

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