Jessica Pegula backs US Open mixed doubles overhaul but urges more dialogue
The year's final Grand Slam announced in February that its mixed doubles competition, which will offer $1 million in prize money, would take place from August 19-20 ahead of the singles main draw the following week.
The competition's format was also overhauled to feature a field of 16 teams - half of the 32 teams that competed last year - with eight entries based on the combined singles rankings of players and eight wild cards.
Matches will be best of three sets, with short sets to four games, with no-advantage scoring, tiebreakers at four-all and a 10-point tiebreak in lieu of a third set. The final will be a best-of-three set match to six games.
The move was described by defending U.S. Open champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori as a 'profound injustice' to doubles players, and Pegula, who is part of the WTA Player Council, said more communication was needed between organisers and players.
'I'm honoured that they asked me to play. It's going to be great, it's going to be fun and the fans will really enjoy it,' Pegula told reporters at the ongoing Cincinnati Open.
'At the same time, how they went about it, I didn't think was really great … We were like, Okay, you guys went rogue and changed the format and didn't tell anybody. You just did it.
'Did you talk to the players? Did you get their input about how it could be better? That's something that we as players are trying to work with them on, having that line of communication be a lot smoother.
'I feel like maybe if there was feedback about the format, then the (reaction) would be a little different, not so all over the place.'
The U.S. Open said previously it understood the feedback from players but stressed that the reimagined event will elevate mixed doubles with a bigger spotlight and inspire more people to play the sport.
Pegula, who will team up with fellow American Tommy Paul in the competition that also features pairs such as Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu and Jannik Sinner and Emma Navarro, said the move to limit the field could impact doubles players' earnings.
'It's not good when you have players saying they're upset that now they can't play, or that it's a way for them to make money and now they don't have that,' Pegula added.
'It's going to be a really fun event, but at the same time, I wish that they would have been communicating with us a little bit better.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
3 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Sinner dispatches Mannarino in Cincinnati
Jannik Sinner is playing his first tournament since lifting the trophy at Wimbledon. Photo: AFP Jannik Sinner ignored a mid-match rain interruption lasting nearly three hours as he booked his quarter-final spot at the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Open with a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) victory over Adrian Mannarino. The world number one, playing his first tournament since lifting the trophy at Wimbledon, notched his 24th consecutive hardcourt match win to enter his fifth quarter-final of the season. The win required patience, with the Italian who turns 24 on Saturday passing some of the afternoon weather pause by playing cards with his team. Sinner and Mannarino returned to action with Sinner leading 6-4, 1-2. But the Frenchman's tricky game took a toll as Sinner was broken while trying to serve out a straight-set win. The second set instead went to a tiebreak, with the Italian firing his 11th and 12th aces to clinch victory. "He's a very difficult opponent, different from the other payers," Sinner said. "He can read the opponent well. "I tried to serve well today and tried to read his serve. I changed position to try and make him uncomfortable. "It was a struggle to close it out, but I'm happy to be in the quarter-finals." Sinner, the reigning Cincinnati champion, seemed to be shrugging off pressure with the US Open starting on August 24. "Every time I reach the quarter-finals it's good for me. I'm aiming to raise my level. But if not, then I'm happy to have played three matches before the Open begins." Earlier former champion Alexander Zverev polished off a weather-hit third-round victory, winning the final four points of a 6-4, 6-4 win over Brandon Nakashima.. The entire one-game exercise, with 2021 Cincy winner Zverev leading 6-4, 5-4 when play resumed, took less than two minutes, with the third seed set for a later fourth-round encounter against Toronto finalist Karen Khachanov. Fifth seed Ben Shelton, last week's Toronto winner, reached the fourth round with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3, victory over Roberto Bautista Agut in a match rescheduled from Tuesday. Swiatek advances Women's third seed Iga Swiatek and men's seventh seed Holger Rune both booked quarter-final berths before afternoon showers struck. Wimbledon champion Swiatek beat Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 6-3, overcoming 33 unforced errors in a 95-minute victory. "I wanted to be more solid than in my last match," Swiatek said. "I'm happy with the level of my focus and the consistency. "It was a good match for sure. Not easy conditions as well, super humid, so I'm happy that I didn't let this affect me." Rune advanced as 2024 finalist Frances Tiafoe retired with lower back pain with Denmark's Rune up 6-4, 3-1. The match was a re-run of a quarter-final here a year ago, won by the American who went on to fall to Sinner in the final. Tiafoe received treatment on his back but it didn't seem to help as Rune gained control. The American walked dejectedly off court, carrying only a pair of shoes while an official carted away his massive tennis bag. Rune, bothered this season by his own injury worries, secured his 100th career hard-court win and his first defeat of a top 20 opponent since he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the Barcelona final in April. "I had a little slow start but I came back quickly and increased my intensity a lot," Rune said. "I was moving the ball around well, in the middle of the first set I started to play well. In another match interrupted on Tuesday, Magda Linette reached the fourth round at Cincinnati for the first time with a 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-3 upset of fourth-seeded American Jessica Pegula. The 40th-ranked Pole had never won a set from the American, who was runner-up to Aryna Sabalenka in Cincy last year.
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Express Tribune
Alcaraz eases past Medjedovic in Cincinnati
Carlos Alcaraz serves against Hamad Medjedovic during the Cincinnati Open. Photo: REUTERS Carlos Alcaraz beat Hamad Medjedovic 6-4 6-4 to reach the Cincinnati Open last 16 on Tuesday, battling the sweltering Ohio heat to notch a tour-leading 50th victory of the season before the evening session was suspended due to rain. The Spanish second seed also secured his 13th consecutive win at an ATP Masters 1000 tournament, converting three of seven break points in a deliberate, slow-paced contest. Treated for neck pain after the first set, Serbia's Medjedovic ramped up in the second to shorten rallies, out-hitting Alcaraz 2516 on winners but committing 38 unforced errors to the Spaniard's 18. "I know he's a really powerful player," Alcaraz said. "His shots are incredibly hard to return. He has a big serve also. I know he doesn't like to run too much from side to side, so my plan was to make him run as much as I could." Monte Carlo and Rome champion Alcaraz next faces Italian Luca Nardi as he continues his bid for an eight Masters 1000 title. Earlier, Andrey Rublev rallied from a set down to edge Alexei Popyrin 6-7(5) 7-6(5) 7-5 in a fierce 3-1/2-hour battle. The Russian ninth seed will play against Argentine Franciso Comesana, who claimed a stunning 6-7(4) 6-4 7-5 win over American Reilly Opelka. In the women's draw, second seed Coco Gauff advanced after Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska withdrew from their third-round clash due to illness. The American will face Lucia Bronzetti, who beat 23rd seed Jelena Ostapenko 1-6 6-3 6-4. It marked the second third-round walkover, following fellow Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk's withdrawal before her match against Polish third seed Iga Swiatek. The Wimbledon champion will take on Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the round of 16. In the evening session, men's third seed Alexander Zverev and women's fourth seed Jessica Pegula were forced off the court mid-match due to rain and the threat of lightning. The suspension was particularly frustrating for Zverev, who had a 6-4 5-4 lead in his match against American Brandon Nakashima and was about to serve for the win. Pegula rallied to take the second set 6-3 in her meeting with Magda Linette, leaving their match all square after the Pole won the first 7-6(5). Canadian Open winner Ben Shelton's match with Roberto Bautista Agut and Dane Clara Tauson's match with Veronika Kudermetova were both moved to Wednesday. Tuesday's rain-enforced suspension was the latest in a string of interruptions at the Cincinnati Open this week. On Monday, Jannik Sinner's win over Gabriel Diallo was delayed by a fire alarm before the players continued through the noise. There was also a one-hour delay due to a power outage.
Business Recorder
2 days ago
- Business Recorder
Legendary Monica Seles reveals she's battling myasthenia gravis
Nine-time Grand Slam champion Monica Seles is battling a new challenge: a neuromuscular autoimmune disease called myasthenia gravis. The 51-year-old Seles is going public about the condition she was diagnosed with three years ago. It causes muscle weakness in the arms and legs and bouts of double vision among other symptoms. Seles was noticing odd changes around five years ago and it eventually became apparent to her that something major was wrong. 'I would be playing (tennis) with some kids or family members, and I would miss a ball,' Seles said, according to The Guardian. 'I was like, 'Yeah, I see two balls.' These are obviously symptoms that you can't ignore. 'And, for me, this is when this journey started. And it took me quite some time to really absorb it, speak openly about it, because it's a difficult one. It affects my day-to-day life quite a lot.' There currently is no cure for the disease. Seles, of course, had a different hurdle earlier in life as she was stabbed with a knife by a fan during a 1993 match in Hamburg, Germany. Seles was 19 at the time and would be away from the sport for 27 months due to both physical and mental anguish. Seles won eight Grand Slam titles prior to the stabbing and reached the finals of all four majors in 1992, winning three of them. She won the Australian Open for the third straight time months before the stabbing. After she returned, Seles won just one Grand Slam title – the 1996 Australian Open. 'I had to, in tennis terms, I guess, reset – hard reset – a few times,' Seles said. 'I call my first hard reset when I came to the U.S. as a young 13-year-old (from Yugoslavia). Didn't speak the language; left my family. It's a very tough time. 'Then, obviously, becoming a great player, it's a reset, too, because the fame, money, the attention, changes (everything), and it's hard as a 16-year-old to deal with all that. Then obviously my stabbing – I had to do a huge reset.' Decades later, Seles is now adjusting to a 'new normal' and looking to move forward with the next version of herself. 'Really, being diagnosed with myasthenia gravis: another reset,' Seles said. 'But one thing, as I tell kids that I mentor: 'You've got to always adjust. That ball is bouncing, and you've just got to adjust. And that's what I'm doing now.' Seles decided to reveal her condition and use her platform to help educate people about the little-known disease. 'My MG journey over the past 5 years has not been an easy one,' Seles said in a statement through argenx, a company partnering with Seles to raise awareness at the upcoming U.S. Open. Alcaraz eases past Medjedovic in Cincinnati before rain forces suspension 'I felt isolated and defeated as many of the activities I enjoyed were no longer physically possible for me. I've since realized that by sharing my story, I can raise awareness of this disease, empower patients to advocate for themselves and help them connect with the MG community for support.' Seles retired from professional tennis in 2008 and was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame one year later. She won 53 tournaments and spent 178 weeks at No. 1, sixth-most all-time among female players.
