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08/25 12:48 CDT Sabalenka and Djokovic fall in first match as the US Open mixed
doubles begins
Sabalenka and Djokovic fall in first match as the US Open mixed doubles begins
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Sports Writer
NEW YORK (AP) --- Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic will have to hope to win
another U.S. Open singles title. They were no match for two of the top doubles
players in tennis.
Sabalenka and Djokovic started strong but couldn't hold on, falling 1-4, 4-2
(10-2) to Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten on Tuesday in the first round of
the mixed doubles tournament.
Siniakova, ranked No. 1 in women's doubles, ended the match with an ace while
serving to Djokovic.
"Kat acing Novak on match point was pretty fun," Patten said after the match,
before a quick turnaround to play their quarterfinal match against the married
pair of Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils.
Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz were in action later in the first round of
the 16-team event, which offers a $1 million prize to the winning team.
The tournament was overhauled last year in an effort to get more top singles
players to compete. It was moved to a two-day event well before the singles
main draw begins, with a scoring format that guarantees quick matches that
shouldn't tax the players too much.
The matches in the first three rounds feature sets to four games, with a
tiebreaker at 4-all and a 10-point tiebreaker instead of a third set. Only the
final on Wednesday night will resemble a regular match, with traditional sets
to six games.
Sabalenka, the two-time defending U.S. Open women's champion, and 24-time Grand
Slam champion Djokovic are exactly the types of players the U.S. Tennis
Association was seeking. They had the No. 1 seed based on the lowest combined
singles ranking of any team, but their loss was far from an upset.
Patten is ranked No. 1 in men's doubles, and he and Siniakova turned things
around after Sabalenka and Djokovic stormed through the first set in 12
minutes, then got an early break in the second.
Doubles specialists such as Siniakova and Patten were shut out of the U.S. Open
last year, when teams qualified directly based on the two players' singles
rankings, or were given wild cards by the USTA. Sara Errani and Andrea
Vavassori, who had won the title in 2024, were the only doubles players in the
field after they were given a wild card to return, and went on to defend their
title.
An eight-team qualifying tournament was added this year, giving two teams,
comprised mostly of regular doubles players, the chance to earn their way into
the main draw.
Svitolina and Monfils routed Alex Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-1, 4-1 in
their opening match.
Also, Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik edged Kristina Mladenovic and Marcelo
Arevalo 4-1, 2-4 (10-7). The Czechs advanced to face the duo of Emma Navarro
and Tommy Paul, who ousted fellow Americans Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien
5-3, 4-2.
___
See AP's full tennis coverage here
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