Italian doubles specialists repeat in revamped mixed US Open tourney

The format of the mixed doubles tournament at the U.S. Open this year may have been brand new, but the winners were as traditional as could be.

Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the only true mixed doubles team in this year’s bracket, successfully defended their title Wednesday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium, topping the reimagined tournament they heavily criticized for sidelining doubles specialists in favor of high-profile singles players.

It was a statement victory — 6-3, 5-7 (10-6) over No. 3 seeded Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud — for many reasons.

There’s a reason no one could match the Italians’ intensity.

There’s a reason no one coordinated or communicated better than them.

It didn’t even matter that the now back-to-back winners had just 10 minutes of rest compared to their opponents’ hour-plus after their semfinal as they capped off the two day tournament with their fourth win in less than 48 hours.

“I think this one is for all the doubles players who couldn’t play in this tournament,” Errani said during her on-court interview.

Errani and Vavassori proved that no matter how high two players’ combined singles rankings are, it doesn’t mean they’ll have success together.

The $1 million prize, which is up $800,000 from 2024, is the one thing they will happily take from this revamped layout, though.

Errani and Vavassori didn’t falter until late in the second set of the title match, when the latter had his serve broken in the 10th game. The crowd was behind Swiatek and Ruud as they forced the tiebreaker, but the true doubles team came out with significant force and jumped out to a 4-0 lead that couldn’t be caught.

“I have to say that we showed today that doubles is a great product,” Vavarossi said. “Us, in the future, we need more marketing.”

The unseeded reigning winners cruised by Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison 4-2, 4-2 earlier in the night to reach the championship without dropping a single set.

Errani was sharp at the net, while Vavassori brought the power. That only continued through the championship bout.

Collins and Harrison joined a list of victims that already included second-seeded Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina, as well as Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev.

“We are on a mission,” Vavassori said during his on-court interview after the semifinal win.

Consider it a mission accomplished.

The top-seeded duo of Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper came two points shy of reaching the final before collapsing in the 10-point match tiebreak of their semifinal bout with Swiatek and Ruud.

A double fault from Swiatek gave the American and the Brit an 8-4 edge in the third-set replacement, but Pegula faltered on the final few points after carrying Draper for a majority of the match.

Swiatek and Ruud captured the last six straight points to win 3-5, 5-3 (10-8) and advance.

While Swiatek had her serve broken twice on the way to losing the first set, Ruud essentially took over to secure the second and force the tiebreak.