US Open Mixed Doubles Refamp-glorified exhibition or competition with a loud nose?

Non-conformity is a typical US open trait. Of the first to introduce a last set of Tiebreak in 1970 to allow in-game coaching in 2022, the last tennis major has the tradition several times.

On Tuesday, however, will demonstrably see the most radical and controversial transformations, with a new mixed doubles format that is ready to be exhibited. It will only contain 16 teams – eight direct acceptations and eight wildcards – a decrease of 32, and players may only come in with their singles ranking.

The two -day affair is played in the week prior to the SLAM and will witness reduced sets (up to four games, except in the final). The WHOs who from Singles Tennis, from Carlos Alcaraz to Jannik Sinner to Iga Swiatek to Naomi Osaka, will compete without worrying about burning their singles ambitions.

Create a buzz

For the United States Tennis Association (USTA) it is about creating a buzz around a format that does not exist outside the slams and four -year extravaganzas such as the Olympic Games. It can help with planning competitions on the largest showcourts such as the Arthur Ashe Stadium, selling tickets, bunning the promotion on Primetime television and gathering more in sponsorship.

But the change has disappointed the double stars. “Like a double athlete my heart is bleeding,” said Wimbledon champion Sam Verbeek, and one can see why.

While competing for a fraction of the prize money, double specialists have closed the door on their faces. None of the ATP-double top 10 is in the draw. Nine of them had participated in the Mixed Doubles competition of Wimbledon from 2025 Wimbledon.

The women do better, with three of the WTA-doubles Top-10 set to compete. But the current world No. 1 is Taylor Townsend of the United States and it would not have had her a public relations disaster.

The almost triple increase in the wallet of $ 802,000 in 2024 to $ 2,360,000 will therefore usually be caught by the well-paid singles stars.

“Double already plays a second violin against singles in terms of visibility, planning, prize money. This step simply strengthens that hierarchy,” said former world no. 1 Rohan Bopanna The Hindu.

“A Grand Slam is not just about singles. It’s about the entire ecosystem. When you start cropping a part, especially something that has been a tradition, it runs away to the completeness of the event.”

Unilateral decision

Whatever the players have arranged is the apparently unilateral decision -making of the USTA. “I am honored that they asked me to play, but how they did it was not really great,” Jessica Pegula, World No. 4 in Singles and a WTA Player Council member, recently in Cincinnati.

“We had something like that:” You (open us) just started villain and changed the size and didn’t tell anyone, “the American added.

The competition also runs at the same time as an ATP 250 in Winston-Salem (US) and it is no-brainer about who will enjoy the most coverage.

At a time when seven of the nine ATP Masters 1000s-still Monte Carlo and Paris-in 12-day Snooze-Fests are blown, smaller tournaments, the move of US Open does not inspire confidence. Can a global sport make it possible to reduce its footprint further?