Mixed doubles mania hits Flushing Meadows

To say “Cincinnati heat was precipitating defeat” was no exaggeration, and the final furlong became even more frazzled: World No. 3, Alexander Zverev, stoically succumbed to World No. 2, Carlos Alcaraz, in the semis, 6-4, 6-3, clearly under the weather on account of it, and World No. 1, Jannik Sinner, uncharacteristically lost the first set of the final 6-0 to Alcaraz, before being feverishly forced to retire.

This was a pyrrhic victory, and the Spaniard made it crystal clear, in post-match speeches, his title should be attributed to existentialism rather than any hard-fought battle. That said, he earned himself more Masters 1000 ranking points, not to mention fan brownie points for his self-effacing sympathy.

A day later, the Cincinnati champion could comfortably bounce onto Arthur Ashe Stadium, alongside partner, former US Open champion, Emma Raducanu, in the revamped US Open Mixed Event, as the main attraction. That said, it came as no surprise these fan favourites were trounced by British No. 1, Jack Draper, and by default, Jessica Pegula — an accomplished doubles player — in this ‘blink of an eye’ format of the game: 4-2, 4-2.

Yet it was Draper, rather than Pegula, who did the damage on their side of the net, and if there is one singles star in the hugely hyped lineup deserving full credit for ‘singlehandedly’ hauling his team into the semis, it is Draper.

He stood out like a knight in shining armour, wielding his racket as sharply as a sword, both at net and on the baseline. Alcaraz, meanwhile — as he did partnering compatriot Rafa Nadal in the recent Olympic doubles — looked distinctly uncomfortable being limited to one side of the court, when he is best suited to owning every inch of it.

As for Emma, win or lose, she just grinned à la the Cheshire Cat, who had cornered the cream.

In the wake of the withdrawal of Sinner and Emma Navarro, Danielle Collins and close friend, Christian Harrison, got a last-minute place in the draw, causing an immediate upset in beating not only the formidable 3rd seeds, Ben Shelton and Taylor Townsend — “the No. 1 Mixed Doubles player in the world” — but also the Olympic gold medal duo of Zverev and Belinda Bencic.

According to Harrison, the secret to their success is that “Collins is one of my closest friends on Tour... I know her strengths and weaknesses.” Yes, chemistry counts in mixed anything.

Thus, despite publicly arguing about “who called who first, to ask for this collaboration”—Casper Ruud replied, “She texted me,” Iga Swiatek emphatically said, “No, your agent called my agent” — luckily on court rather than in court — they miraculously came within a cat’s whisker of stealing the crown from defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, now a cool $1 million richer, thanks to an Errani underhand serve.

However, for venerable veterans viewing the business end of this Major—former champion Novak Djokovic and 2019 semi-finalist Grigor Dimitrov — time, not money, holds real value. Both are in that rarefied minority who’ve played over 50 consecutive Slams during their respective careers, and the bell is tolling loudly: Dimitrov, still nursing that torn pectoral muscle which cost him a historic win over Sinner at Wimbledon, has been forced once again to withdraw, costing him a final crack at the Flushing Meadows crown.

While Djokovic, who’s expended little energy since reaching the Championship’s quarters, will be exhausted, in the shade, merely contemplating the ferocious volleyers on his side of the draw — Alcaraz, Jakub Mensik, Holger Rune, and Ben Shelton, to name but a few. One wonders why, instead of remaining immersed in ‘the heat’, he didn’t retire after winning that elusive Paris gold medal.