By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK, – The U.S. Open’s experiment to carry a much bigger highlight to the blended doubles kicks off on Tuesday, because the competitors will get its personal place on the calendar and organisers lure in followers with partnerships made up of prime singles gamers.
Beloved by diehard followers however usually misplaced in a schedule which is dominated by singles motion, this yr’s blended doubles begins 5 days earlier than the principle draw with a sellout crowd anticipated at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Previous U.S. Open singles champions Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz will play collectively whereas six-times Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek joins forces with 2022 finalist Casper Ruud, in a star-studded lineup that followers scarcely may have imagined earlier than.
The format was overhauled to function 16 groups – half as many as competed a yr in the past – with eight entries primarily based on mixed singles rankings of gamers and eight wildcards.
The fan response has been optimistic, and costs for a pair of courtside seats at Wednesday’s semis and remaining have been listed for upwards of $500 on the secondary ticket platform StubHub as of Monday.
“Whereas not everybody loves change, I feel we have largely seen that followers are actually excited to see these prime singles’ gamers compete collectively,” Eric Butorac, the match’s senior director for participant relations and enterprise growth, advised Reuters.
Organisers have been impressed to pursue the brand new format after watching retired greats Serena Williams and Andy Murray play collectively within the blended doubles at Wimbledon in 2019, a dream pairing that acquired the eye of followers and the media.
Different sports activities have gotten the message, too: Golf, athletics and swimming added blended occasions to their Olympic agenda whereas the addition of WNBA sharpshooter Sabrina Ionescu to the NBA 3-Level Problem final yr led to a surge of TV viewership.
“‘How can we make this occur on the U.S. Open?’ It was that query that form of began us all pondering of… the the explanation why the highest gamers do not play, however how can we make it occur,” stated Butorac.
A large improve in prize cash for the winners, as much as $1,000,000 from $200,000 a yr in the past, sweetened the deal, whereas the standalone place on the calendar within the week earlier than the principle draw meant gamers may extra simply take part.
“When the singles gamers are enjoying blended doubles, it is an ideal factor for followers,” Swiatek advised the Tennis Channel.
MIXED DOUBLES, MIXED REACTION
The plan has additionally attracted loads of critics, together with veteran doubles gamers and Italian reigning champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, who earned wildcard entry and had referred to as the format a “profound injustice.”
Doubles Olympic champion Katerina Siniakova questioned why prime doubles gamers would wish a wildcard entry.
“A number of are folks that I performed with on tour so all of them have my telephone quantity and weren’t afraid to name,” stated Butorac, a retired doubles specialist.
Organisers took the full $680,000 in prize cash supplied within the blended doubles a yr in the past and added it to the boys’s and ladies’s doubles, on prime of already scheduled will increase in prize cash, to maintain doubles’ gamers’ incomes potential up.
“Once we had these conversations with the doubles gamers, I do not assume any of them essentially appreciated the choice, however I feel quite a lot of them understood that from a broader fan perspective, that is one thing that we actually need to strive,” stated Butorac.
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