NEW YORK — The two best doubles players in the world lost in the quarterfinals of the revamped US Open mixed doubles format—to two singles players.
Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils, two singles players, defeated Kateřina Siniaková and Henry Patten, the world No. 1 in women’s and men’s doubles, respectively, in a tightly contested three-set match in the quarterfinals of the US Open mixed doubles on Tuesday.
Svitolina and Monfils are married, though Tuesday was the first time they teamed up in an official tennis match in their careers. Monfils, who turns 40 next week and is playing in his final US Open, is a former top-10 men’s singles player but is currently ranked No. 306.
Both said they did not expect to advance to the semis given their lack of preparation.
“We had zero expectations,” Svitolina said. “We practice quite a lot together back at home or at tournaments, but only yesterday we worked on a few things for doubles.” The duo did say it helped that they had chemistry as a married couple.
Siniaková and Patten weren’t the only doubles specialists to fall Tuesday.
Two-time defending champions Sara Errani (women’s doubles No. 9) and Andrea Vavassori (men’s doubles No. 8) fell to Mirra Andreeva (women’s singles No. 5) and Andrey Rublev (men’s singles No. 24).
Kristina Mladenovic (No. 11 women’s doubles) and Marcelo Arevalo (No. 6 men’s doubles) were also knocked out in the Round of 16 by the Czech pairing of Karolina Muchová (No. 7 women’s singles) and Jakub Mensik (No. 16 men’s singles).
Mensik said that it helped that the US Open mixed doubles has accelerated rules.
“If we will play regular rules like until six games, it will be much more difficult,” said Mensik, who said it was his first time playing mixed doubles since he was 9 years old. “Because we are just playing until four games, sometimes you get lucky.”
Each set in the US Open mixed doubles goes to four games, unlike the traditional six games required in doubles. There is also no traditional deuce, as teams can win a 40–40 tie by winning just one point. If the two teams split the first two sets, the tiebreaker third set is a first to 10 points.
The US Open overhauled its mixed doubles format last year in an effort to attract more singles stars and bring in more fans for its opening week. The USTA raised the grand prize from $200,000 in 2024 to $1 million last year; this year’s championship prize is also $1 million.
Last year’s format had 16 teams, and Errani and Vavassori were the only double specialists in the draw. The pair had complained about the revamp on social media months earlier in 2025.
“We see it as a profound injustice, that disrespect an entire category of players. Put money above tennis is never a good idea,” Errani and Vavassori wrote in a joint social media post in February 2025.
They went on to win the 2025 US Open mixed doubles tournament.
“I think this one is for all the doubles players that couldn’t play this tournament. I think this one is also for them,” Errani said after the win.
This year’s format added an 8-team qualifying format played Monday that featured numerous doubles specialists. The change allowed for four doubles specialists to make the main draw.
Mensik and Muchová deferred to the organizers when asked whether more doubles players should be featured in the draw. But Muchová said the additional doubles team this year delivered a “nice mix” for the tournament.
“I think it’s nice that they actually expanded a little bit of the draw and there is more space as well for doubles players,” Muchová said.
