The revamped US Open mixed doubles continues to innovate, making itself more fan-friendly and adding a different flavor to the New York Major as a whole. This time around, the organizers have tweaked the entry model a bit, adding more matches on the first day on the show courts to enhance fan entertainment.

As per the new rules, a qualifying round has been added to the mixed doubles competition this year at the US Open, which will see teams battling for two spots in the main draw. The two qualified teams will join six teams in the main draw, who will receive direct entry based on their individual rankings, with singles rankings taking precedence. The other eight teams in the main draw will receive wildcards, depending on the tournament, as their goal will be to bring the biggest singles stars onto court as often as possible.

This is slightly different from last year, where it was a simple 8-8 split between the 16 main draw teams, where eight teams were getting a direct entry, and eight got wildcards. The addition of a qualifying round makes sure that this year the mixed doubles event will be a three-day event compared to two days last year, as Day 1 (August 24) will have the qualifying rounds, with the main draw rounds taking place on Day 2 (August 25), and the semifinal and final set for Day 3 (August 26).

Using a fast-paced format while featuring the top singles players to get a large audience during the fan week has been the main motivation for the US Open organizers to launch this new concept. As stated by the US Open organizers, the early rounds of the competition are best-of-three-set matches, with short sets of up to four games. Players will go for a ten-point match tiebreak if both sides split sets. The final is a best-of-three-set match, with a maximum of six games, and will also substitute a third set for a ten-point match tiebreak if teams split sets, with no ad scoring in any match.

The debut year for the new mixed doubles competition could be termed a mixed success, as there were positives from the tournament, but there was no shortage of criticisms as well.

The US Mixed Doubles Had Mixed Success in the First Year

Fans were thrilled to see some of their favorite singles stars team up in doubles, with the pairs of Carlos Alcaraz-Emma Raducanu, Gael Monfils- Naomi Osaka, Jessica Pegula- Jack Draper, and Iga Swiatek-Casper Ruud being big hits. Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong, two of the biggest show courts at the US Open, were full for the mixed doubles, something which was refreshing for the organizers during the fan week.

Even though the tickets sold like hotcakes, there was criticism that a doubles event focused more on singles players and sidelined traditional doubles players. To cap it all off, the event was won by the defending champion team of Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani, who were a specialist doubles team, giving more voice to the criticisms. With the ATP making the controversial decision to reduce doubles draws from 2028, the underlying battle between singles and doubles will be a theme at this year’s mixed doubled event in New York as well.

Some criticisms of playing a Grand Slam event in a fast-paced format diminished the gravity of the occasion, which is traditionally associated with winning a Grand Slam. However, the format is unlikely to change. But the organizers will hope that they will get the top stars in the competition this year as well, with the likes of Jannik Sinner hinting previously that he may skip the event as part of the pay dispute going on between the players and the Grand Slam authorities.