The changed mixed class in the Grand Slam tennis tournament has received criticism for both the new format and that it is mainly stars who have got a place in the reduced starting field. The class is decided in just two days and has been described as a spectacle.
Something that some players seem to agree with. When the Briton Jack Draper – world fifth in singles – was asked how serious he was during the matches, he replied that it "obviously is a bit of an exhibition format".
"Not an exhibition"
Teammate Jessica Pegula, USA, replied quickly.
He should not say that, said the American world fourth according to AP and added:
It's not an exhibition.
Pegula and Draper will face the Polish world second Iga Swiatek and the Norwegian Casper Ruud, ranked twelfth in singles, in the semifinals.
Otherwise, the star names are absent from the semifinals. Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Elena Rybakina, and Mirra Andrejeva have finished playing.
In the other semifinal, the reigning champion pair Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori have taken place – doubles specialists who have called the new format a "pseudo-exhibition with focus only on entertainment and artistry".
Like with everything else, there are pros and cons. The positive is that the stadium was full in the second match, says Andrea Vavassori now according to AP.
Sinner withdrew
It's fantastic for the doubles class to play in front of more people. I have also said before that playing this format is excellent for developing doubles and mixed doubles in the future, he continues.
The Italians will meet Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison in the semifinals. The American pair got a place in the tournament only after the Czech Katerina Siniakova and the world number one Jannik Sinner, Italy, withdrew due to illness. Harrison is a doubles specialist while Collins is found in 59th place on the women's singles ranking.
Semifinals and finals are played on Thursday night, Swedish time. The singles tournament in the US Open starts on Sunday.
Corrected: In an earlier version, Jack Draper was given the wrong nationality.
The mixed doubles in the US Open are decided this year in two days with 16 participating pairs instead of 32 pairs as before.
Each match is played in the best of three sets and it is first to four games, not six, that applies.
Additionally, each game is sped up. The team that wins the next point at the score 40–40 takes the game instead of getting "advantage", as is otherwise the practice. If it's 4–4 in a set, a tiebreak is used.
At a score of 1–1 in sets, a deciding set is replaced with a tiebreak where the first to ten points applies.
The final uses the same setup, but then the first to six won games applies.
