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New York Times
6 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
U.S. Open announces mixed doubles direct entries, wild cards include Alcaraz and Raducanu
Now the U.S. Open mixed doubles fun can really begin. Heavy on glitz and singles stars, the 16-team tournament will be lighter on doubles players who have honed their skills on that tour. With registration closed, the United States Tennis Association (USTA) has announced 14 of the 16 teams, eight of them direct entries and six of them wild cards. Advertisement Last week, the USTA announced 25 high-profile teams as entries, but fewer than a third had a shot of making it straight into the new tournament, which will be held Aug. 19 and 20 at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center in New York City. It will conclude four days before the singles main draws begin. Teams with players who have the eight lowest combined singles rankings gain automatic entry. There are automatic places for defending men's singles champion Jannik Sinner, Wimbledon champion Iga Świątek and last year's U.S. Open finalist Taylor Fritz, but Carlos Alcaraz's partnership with Emma Raducanu, and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and compatriot Olga Danilović, both required wild cards. It's tough getting into a mixed doubles Grand Slam these days — well, this one, at least, Kateřina Siniaková and Marcelo Arévalo, two of the best doubles players in the world, are on the outside looking in. *Belinda Bencic entered with a special ranking of world No. 15. She is currently world No. 20. The first six wild card entries are as follows: The decision on the remaining two wild cards will be a test of the U.S. Open's less-than-unspoken priorities for a mixed doubles event designed to pack two stadiums over two days and draw eyeballs to the ESPN coverage of the event. That means getting the most famous stars to play, with $1 million for the winning team, eschewing any concerns about who is actually the best at the discipline. Townsend being the new world No. 1 in doubles, and Siniaková being the person she overtook to get there, is already secondary to the stardom factor. Townsend and Shelton getting a wild card has more to do with their pairing, bringing together the hot new thing of American men's tennis and a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist with a legitimate doubles star. They may actually be a good pick to win the thing. They played mixed in New York together before, reaching the semifinals in 2023, and Shelton played doubles this year with Rohan Bopanna, a former men's world No. 1. Advertisement The Alcaraz and Raducanu partnership is gold dust, and both have endorsement deals with Evian, which is a U.S. Open sponsor. Williams, the seven-time Grand Slam champion and 45-year-old Washington Open wild card who thrilled crowds in D.C., is an easy pick. She beat the world No. 35 Peyton Stearns in singles and won a doubles match with Hailey Baptiste. If a Williams sister is offering up her services to a tournament, she usually gets in. One player missing is Aryna Sabalenka, whose proposed partner, Grigor Dimitrov, withdrew with the pectoral muscle injury he sustained at Wimbledon. One of the most compelling athletes in the sport, Sabalenka has been on something of a reputation-enhancement campaign since her implosion in the French Open final and during the ensuing news conference, when she said Coco Gauff didn't win as much as she lost. It was raw, honest and poor form all at once, and it garnered a lot of online attention, most of it negative. She would be in line for a wild card if she entered, but with whom? What to do with Osaka and Kyrgios, who have not been setting the scoreboards alight for some time but had signed up for the tournament? When it comes to recognition in the wider sporting world, there is no argument against their inclusion. But Kyrgios has barely played professional tennis this year. Doubles players have criticized the USTA for devaluing a Grand Slam trophy. USTA executives have responded that not enough people were watching or even thinking about mixed doubles. Nothing, they argue, devalues an event more than that. So out went the 32-team tournament played alongside the singles events. In came first-to-four-games sets, with no-ad scoring and a match tiebreak at a set apiece. The business will get done well ahead of the singles, giving players a competitive warm-up and the broader tournament a huge promotional boost. The start of the U.S. Open proper on Aug. 24 should not take anyone by surprise. Advertisement The big surprise might be if all the players who have raised their hands to play actually play. The biggest complication might be the singles finals of the Cincinnati Open, which will take place on Monday, Aug. 18, the day before the mixed doubles start. Two years ago, Alcaraz and Djokovic slugged it out for nearly four hours in the men's final, in the intense Ohio summer heat. Would they have gotten on a plane and flown in for mixed doubles the next morning? Action is supposed to get underway beginning at 11 a.m. Tuesday the 19th. Theoretically, the USTA will have a few teams on reserve as injuries and scheduling conflicts arise. Who's going to agree to that? Maybe the actual doubles players of renown, people such as Siniaková and Arévalo, or Desirae Krawczyk and Evan King, or Hsieh Su-wei and Jan Zieliński. $1 million is $1 million after all — and the actual doubles players think they have a built-in advantage. Olympic results from last year go some distance toward proving that point. With two wild cards not to be announced until later — and considering no one asked for this input — here's who seems most likely to gain entry. And then:
Express Tribune
a day ago
- Sport
- Express Tribune
De Minaur saves three match points to lift DC Open title
Alex De Minaur rallied from a set down and saved three match points to claim the Washington Open title with a 5-7 6-1 7-6(3) win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the ATP 500 event on Sunday. The Australian number one, who lost the 2018 final to Alexander Zverev, felt he rode his luck to secure his 10th career title and ensure he will enter the top 10 in the world rankings ahead of next month's US Open. The two 26-year-olds exchanged breaks early in the opening set before Spain's Davidovich Fokina seized control by breaking again and closed out the set with the help of some crisp forehand winners. De Minaur responded emphatically in the second set, converting two of four break-point opportunities while holding serve throughout, wrapping up the set in just over 30 minutes with an ace to level the contest. The Spaniard looked on course for his first career title when he broke to grab the lead in the decider but he failed to serve out the match at 5-3, sending a forehand long to hand the break back to seventh seed De Minaur. Davidovich Fokina's frustration mounted as the 12th seed squandered three match points on De Minaur's serve, and the Australian then capitalised on a series of unforced errors in the tiebreak to edge the contest. "I came here in 2018 and it gave me so much confidence, so I'm so happy that I was able to come back and end up winning the title," De Minaur said at the trophy presentation. "Alejandro, you're way too good not to have one of these, it's coming for sure," he added, gesturing to the trophy. "You deserved it today, I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor, hell of a player. No one on the tour wants to play you. And this is not the end, this is only going on for you." Davidovich Fokina recalled that he had required a wild card to play in the U.S. capital last year and was pleased to have at least guaranteed a rise to a career high world number 19 when the rankings are updated on Monday. "He deserved the win, he was fighting every ball, he was always pushing through my limits," Davidovich Fokina said. "We had a job to do before we started the year, to be at the middle of the year in the top 20. This week we did it, just not with the trophy. But for sure, we will keep going, pushing our limits, pushing harder."
Observer
a day ago
- Sport
- Observer
De Minaur defeats Davidovich to lift Washington Open title
WASHINGTON: Alex De Minaur rallied from a set down and saved three match points to claim the Washington Open title with a 5-7 6-1 7-6(3) win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the ATP 500 event on Sunday. The Australian number one, who lost the 2018 final to Alexander Zverev, felt he rode his luck to secure his 10th career title and ensure he will enter the top 10 in the world rankings ahead of next month's US Open. The two 26-year-olds exchanged breaks early in the opening set before Spain's Davidovich Fokina seized control by breaking again and closed out the set with the help of some crisp forehand winners. De Minaur responded emphatically in the second set, converting two of four break-point opportunities while holding serve throughout, wrapping up the set in just over 30 minutes with an ace to level the contest. The Spaniard looked on course for his first career title when he broke to grab the lead in the decider but he failed to serve out the match at 5-3, sending a forehand long to hand the break back to seventh seed De Minaur. Davidovich Fokina's frustration mounted as the 12th seed squandered three match points on De Minaur's serve, and the Australian then capitalised on a series of unforced errors in the tiebreak to edge the contest. "I came here in 2018 and it gave me so much confidence, so I'm so happy that I was able to come back and end up winning the title," De Minaur said at the trophy presentation. "Alejandro, you're way too good not to have one of these, it's coming for sure," he added, gesturing to the trophy. "You deserved it today, I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor, hell of a player. No one on the tour wants to play you. And this is not the end, this is only going on for you." Davidovich Fokina recalled that he had required a wild card to play in the US capital last year and was pleased to have at least guaranteed a rise to a career high world number 19 when the rankings are updated on Monday. "He deserved the win, he was fighting every ... ball, he was always pushing through my limits," Davidovich Fokina said. "We had a job to do before we started the year, to be at the middle of the year in the top 20. This week we did it, just not with the trophy. But for sure, we will keep going, pushing our limits, pushing harder." — Reuters
The Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Alex de Minaur saves three match points before roaring back to win Washington title
Alex de Minaur rallied from a set down and saved three match points to claim the Washington Open title with a 5-7, 6-1, 7-6(3) win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the ATP 500 event. The Australian No 1, who lost the 2018 final to Alexander Zverev, felt he rode his luck to secure his 10th career title and ensure he will enter the top 10 in the world rankings ahead of next month's US Open. The two 26-year-olds exchanged breaks early in the opening set before Spain's Davidovich Fokina seized control by breaking again and closed out the set with the help of some crisp forehand winners. De Minaur responded emphatically in the second set, converting two of four break-point opportunities while holding serve throughout, wrapping up the set in just over 30 minutes with an ace to level the contest. The Spaniard looked on course for his first career title when he broke to grab the lead in the decider but he failed to serve out the match at 5-3, sending a forehand long to hand the break back to seventh seed De Minaur. Davidovich Fokina's frustration mounted as the 12th seed squandered three match points on De Minaur's serve, and the Australian then capitalised on a series of unforced errors in the tiebreak to edge the contest. 'I came here in 2018 and it gave me so much confidence, so I'm so happy that I was able to come back and end up winning the title,' De Minaur said at the trophy presentation. 'Alejandro, you're way too good not to have one of these, it's coming for sure,' he added, gesturing to the trophy. 'You deserved it today, I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor, hell of a player. No one on the tour wants to play you. And this is not the end, this is only going on for you.' Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion Davidovich Fokina recalled that he had required a wild card to play in the US capital last year and was pleased to have at least guaranteed a rise to a career high world No 19 when the rankings are updated on Monday. 'He deserved the win, he was fighting every ... ball, he was always pushing through my limits,' Davidovich Fokina said. 'We had a job to do before we started the year, to be at the middle of the year in the top 20. This week we did it, just not with the trophy. But for sure, we will keep going, pushing our limits, pushing harder.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
a day ago
- Sport
- Asharq Al-Awsat
‘Lucky' De Minaur Saves Three Match Points to Lift Washington Open Title
Alex De Minaur rallied from a set down and saved three match points to claim the Washington Open title with a 5-7 6-1 7-6(3) win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final of the ATP 500 event on Sunday. The Australian number one, who lost the 2018 final to Alexander Zverev, felt he rode his luck to secure his 10th career title and ensure he will enter the top 10 in the world rankings ahead of next month's US Open. The two 26-year-olds exchanged breaks early in the opening set before Spain's Davidovich Fokina seized control by breaking again and closed out the set with the help of some crisp forehand winners. De Minaur responded emphatically in the second set, converting two of four break-point opportunities while holding serve throughout, wrapping up the set in just over 30 minutes with an ace to level the contest. The Spaniard looked on course for his first career title when he broke to grab the lead in the decider, but he failed to serve out the match at 5-3, sending a forehand long to hand the break back to seventh seed De Minaur. Davidovich Fokina's frustration mounted as the 12th seed squandered three match points on De Minaur's serve, and the Australian then capitalized on a series of unforced errors in the tiebreak to edge the contest. "I came here in 2018 and it gave me so much confidence, so I'm so happy that I was able to come back and end up winning the title," De Minaur said at the trophy presentation. "Alejandro, you're way too good not to have one of these, it's coming for sure," he added, gesturing to the trophy. "You deserved it today, I just got lucky. You are a hell of a competitor, hell of a player. No one on the tour wants to play you. And this is not the end, this is only going on for you." Davidovich Fokina recalled that he had required a wild card to play in the US capital last year and was pleased to have at least guaranteed a rise to a career high world number 19 when the rankings are updated on Monday. "He deserved the win, he was fighting every ... ball, he was always pushing through my limits," Davidovich Fokina said. "We had a job to do before we started the year, to be at the middle of the year in the top 20. This week we did it, just not with the trophy. But for sure, we will keep going, pushing our limits, pushing harder."
