‘My heart is bleeding' – Wimbledon champion takes huge swipe at tennis bosses following major rule change
".
It was announced in February that the Flushing Meadows event would be undergoing a
3
Katerina Siniakova and Sem Verbeek won their first Wimbledon title together on Thursday
Credit: Alamy
3
But they've had to wave goodbye to the US Open
Credit: EPA
This included mixed doubles happening in the week before the tournament in "fan week" and not at the same time as the singles, meaning it will be spread over three weeks, unlike the three other Grand Slams.
The tournament is also introducing a $1million (£804,000) prize for the mixed doubles champions, in a hope to get bigger names to participate.
However the move hasn't gone down with new Wimbledon mixed double champions Verbeek and Siniakova.
They are amongst the large number of mixed doubles pairs who will miss out on playing together in
New York
as a result of the changes.
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Verbeek, who recorded a 7-6 7-6 win with Siniakova over Britain's Joe Salisbury and Brazil's Luisa Stefani in the final on Thursday, told
'I'm not going to actively root against it for it not to be a success. The positive I can think of is that there's going to be more people that can see the top single stars earlier in the tournament when they are maybe a bit more accessible to the public.
'But as a doubles athlete, my heart is bleeding.'
Australi
an Open 2025 doubles winner Siniakova has also criticised the decision.
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She said: 'It's a shame they decided to do it.
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'I think it's a marketing step, but they are taking [away the] chance of doubles players.'
The US Open's mixed doubles competition will run from August 19 to August 20, with nine of the world's top 10 women and nine of the world's top 10 men involved.
Angry Aryna Sabalenka opens up on 'hate relationship' with Wimbledon and battling demons telling her to smash racquets
Early round matches will be best-of-three sets played to just four games, with a deciding point played at deuce.
Only the final will feature a traditional best-of-three sets played to six games, as is usually the case in a Grand Slam.
Meanwhile, 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic - who was
3
Alcaraz and Raducanu are set to star in the new-look mixed doubles in New York
Credit: Getty
Speaking back in February, CEO of the US
Tennis
Association, Lew Sherr, said he believed the changes will benefit the US Open.
After the adjustments were announced, he said: "The reason behind this is to appeal to more fans and grow the fanbase around the world.
"But the way to do that is to have the biggest names in the sport participating in doubles, and to
showcase
them teaming up and playing in a different format, we think is exciting.
"In fact, we know it's exciting."
Other tennis stars have welcomed the restructure, too.
American world singles No3 Jessica Pegula said earlier this year: "As a player who enjoys competing in doubles, I'm excited for the opportunity to play the US Open mixed doubles
championship
during the first week.
"I appreciate the importance of innovation and exploring new ways to engage more fans and grow our sport."
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