Veteran duo Vavassori and Errani shine in U.S. Open mixed doubles

NEW YORK: Veteran Italian duo Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani showed the power of doubles experience over singles star power as they stormed into the semi-finals of the reimagined mixed doubles event at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.

The defending champions, who entered as wild cards, stunned 2022 Wimbledon singles champion Elena Rybakina and 2024 U.S. Open singles finalist Taylor Fritz 4-2, 4-2. They followed it up with a gritty 4-1, 5-4(4) quarter-final win over Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev.

This year’s mixed doubles event, revamped to draw greater attention, featured a new five-day format with eight wild cards and eight teams selected via combined singles rankings. While the format drew criticism from traditional doubles players, the atmosphere told a different story—Arthur Ashe Stadium was packed for the matches.

“The positives are for sure that the stadium was packed in the second match,” Vavassori said. “It’s a great thing for doubles to be seen by more people… We’re also playing for all the doubles players that could not be here, so we tried to do our best.”

The Italians will next face fellow wild cards Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison, who caused an upset with a 4-1, 5-4(2) victory over Ben Shelton and Taylor Townsend. With fan engagement and competitive intensity on the rise, the revamped format is already proving to be a success.