Bill Simons
New York
DON’T TREAD ON US: When you want to paint your house, you don’t seek out Picasso and Rembrandt to do the job. You hire the good ol’ guys from Joe’s Painting Service down the road on Maple Street.
And when you want to pick a doubles championship team, you go with a savvy, experienced team that knows the nuances of a complex sport.
From the outset, last year’s US Open mixed doubles champs Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori proved their considerable point, humbling four makeshift teams that included stars like Iga Swiatek, Casper Ruud, Taylor Fritz, Andrey Rublev and Elena Rybakina en route to a tight, compelling 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 final victory over Swiatek and Ruud.
Vavassori is a doubles specialist who has now won three Slams, and Errani is a clutch vet who’s collected nine Slams. Throughout the two-day tourney, the Italian duo had a singular message: “All those singles stars can go shove it. This is our turf – doubles is our game. Don’t tread on us – we’ll show you.”
Errani proclaimed, “We’re playing for all the doubles players who could not get in the tourney.”
After they’d won, Pat McEnroe was succinct: “New format, new schedule, new players, and same result.”
A BIG BRASH, BOLD BONANZA: We expected mixed reviews on the new, “reimagined” US Open Mixed Doubles championships. After all, critics insisted that the radically new invitational tourney, played before the Open started, totally ended 128 years of tradition, and gave a cold shoulder to scores of scrappy players who depended on a paycheck from the traditional tournament.
Yes, some dismiss doubles specialists as failed singles players. But mixed doubles has long been part of the fabric of the game. Loyalists insisted that this was a slap in the face of an entire category of players.
But backers of the re-imagined tourney said, “Hold on, buckle your seat belts – this will dazzle.” After all, virtually all the top players in the world would be on hand for a new bonanza, tennis’ most innovative event since the emergence of the Laver Cup.
And, in the end, the Mixed didn’t get mixed reviews – it was a huge hit. Almost all the top players were on hand. Fans voted with their feet – some 78,000 enthusiasts packed the US Open’s two show courts. Many matches sizzled, the shot-making astounded and there were jaw-dropping surprises.
The new two-day circus showcased many a performer. There was a GOAT, Novak Djokovic, and a living legend, Venus Williams, playing with her pal and partner, that mighty giant, Reilly Opelka.
Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, the focus of unsubstantiated romantic rumors, teamed up. Players who have been No. 1 in doubles, Taylor Townsend and Jessica Pegula, displayed their chops. Last year’s singles US Open finalist Taylor Fritz was on hand rather briefly. And what characters in this game are more charismatic than Gael Monfils, Frances Tiafoe, Ben Shelton and Naomi Osaka?
SUPERSTARS WHO FALTER: There’s a long history of failed super pairings in doubles. Serena and Andy Murray won a couple of matches at Wimbledon. In his last match, Roger and some Spaniard named Rafa lost to Tiafoe and Jack Sock at the Laver Cup.
PASTA POWER: As the beaming Jasmine Paolini, French Open, Wimbledon and Cincinnati finalist, cheered them on, Vavassori and Errani advanced the case that the Italians are a dominant tennis force. Last year’s US Open winner Jannik Sinner won Wimbledon and the Aussie Open, and has long been No. 1. It hardly matters whether it’s singles or doubles, on the ATP or WTA, at Slams or on the circuit, singles or dubs, Davis Cup or the Olympics, Italians are bringing it, with style, power and finesse. Italy has a great system, hosts many little and large tourneys and is important in tennis politics.
MAKING AN UNDER-HANDED UNDERARM POINT: When serving on championship point, the cheeky Errani hit a 64-mph underarm serve that was actually faster than some of her regular serves. She and her partner won the point and the championship. Errani had the slowest serve in the draw, but she continually held serve. James Blake noted, “Players are not used to seeing a 63-mph serve. Taylor Fritz struggled with that.” And all this brings to mind our favorite Sue Mott analysis. The British writer claimed that 1970 Wimbledon semifinalist Francoise Durr’s serve “meandered like a concussed bluebottle and sometimes seemed to travel in reverse.”
ASTERISK RISK: OK, this was the US Open mixed doubles championships. But will purists put an asterisk next to the results?
AN UNSPARING KID: Eighteen-year-old Mirra Andreeva claimed she was carrying her partner, six-time Slam finalist Daniil Medvedev. She explained, “I knew he would be nervous, so I had to take the lead…He’s been playing not bad so far from the baseline. Could be better.”
SORE LOSERS: What’s up with tone-deaf WTA finalists who falter in their speeches after losing? After falling in the French Open final, Aryna Sabalenka didn’t give Coco Gauff her due. Overwhelmed by sorrow, the world No. 1 claimed she lost because she played terribly, and Gauff would have lost if she’d been playing Swiatek.
After she lost the Canadian Open final, Naomi Osaka’s terse speech didn’t even mention Victoria Mboko. Once Osaka was a teen marvel. But after her Montreal loss, the veteran failed to salute the stunning breakthrough of Canada’s 18-year-old Cinderella.
After her loss in the mixed doubles championship, Iga Swiatek displayed a dismissive ’tude as she told the Italian victors, “You proved, I guess, that mixed doubles players are harder technically than singles players.”
She then discounted the competition, saying, “This event is to make people entertained.” Then, oddly, she revisited her bizarre public spat with her partner, claiming that Casper Ruud had texted her first to ask her to play the mixed competition, not vice versa. Then she and Ruud were rude. They chatted as Errani and Vavassori were having their moment in the sun.
All these lapses contrast with Amanda Anisimova’s Wimbledon post-match interview, that was as poignant and reflective as her on-court play was hapless. She may have fallen to Iga 6-0, 6-0, but she joined the likes of Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Andy Roddick who, after gut-wrenching losses, gained our hearts as they displayed post-match humility and vulnerability.
QUERREY’S CURIOUS QUERIES: The rising media man Sam Querrey asked Casper Ruud, “When did you become one of the best mixed doubles players in the world?” When interviewing Ruud and Swiatek, he wondered aloud, “Will you go separate ways in the locker room?” Amazingly, he asked Swiatek, “What’s more nerve-wracking, walking on court for the mixed doubles today, or walking onto Centre Court at Wimbledon for a final?”
WHAT A LOVE-IN: Commentators often gushed about the mixed doubles. Renae Stubbs claimed, “You can’t take your eyes off the courts – so many great players.” After one magical point, Jason Goodall gushed, “No way – oh, my Lord. Have you ever seen anything like it in your life? This is taking it to a whole new level.”
Mary Joe Fernandez observed, “We’re seeing what you get when the best players in the world are on the same court. What we are seeing is what we haven’t seen before. Great shot-making.”
INTRO TO MIXED DUBS 101: Never before have we had such a concentrated tutorial on the keys to doubles. We were told, “Take over the middle, control the net. Move together, make spontaneous changes. Allow the man to dominate, but don’t force it. Be aggressive and go for it, but sometimes safe ‘placement shots’ are the order of the day. Positional play often matters more than outright winners. It’s all about the right shot at the right time.”
LONG-HAIRED CRITIC: After Vavassori zipped a ball past Andrey Rublev’s head, Jason Goodall claimed, “He gave Rublev a haircut – and he needs it.”
NORWEGIAN SARCASM STRIKES AGAIN: When asked about the strategy of his play with Iga Swiatek, Casper Ruud quipped, “The tactics are so complicated – it’s hard to explain.”
AIN’T THAT THE TRUTH? Renae Stubbs claimed that the diminutive Errani was “very lob-able.”…After a video review went on and on, patriot John McEnroe quipped, “In the mixed doubles final of the US Open, the tie goes to the American.”…Iga Swiatek said, “Casper does all the work, and I’m just there…I should leave 80 percent of the court open to let Casper hit his forehand.”…When it comes to what doubles really needs, Vavassori observed, “We need more marketing.”
SUMMING UP THE US OPEN MIXED: As the mixed doubles tournament wound down, John McEnroe reflected, “It’s midnight on Wednesday, and we are still here on Arthur Ashe. I don’t think anyone would be expecting that.”
