Weary Swiatek wins US Open mixed doubles opener / Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY - AFP
Weary Swiatek wins US Open mixed doubles opener
Iga Swiatek shrugged off weariness to partner Casper Ruud to an opening victory in the revamped mixed doubles competition at the US Open on Tuesday.
Swiatek and Ruud needed just 39 minutes to dispatch the US pairing of Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe 4-1, 4-2 in blazing sunshine at Flushing Meadows' Arthur Ashe Stadium main court.
The victory capped a gruelling 24 hours for Polish star Swiatek, who late Monday battled to her first Cincinnati Open title in a near two-hour win over Italy's Jasmine Paolini.
Swiatek then hot-footed it to the airport for a flight to New York before appearing in Tuesday's doubles opener.
"Honestly the last two days have felt like one day, but I'm super happy to be here," Swiatek admitted after Tuesday's doubles win.
Ruud and Swiatek had just enough time to fit in a quick practice before taking to the court in their first match as a doubles pairing.
"I was happy to team up with Iga," Ruud said afterwards. "She's on the winning train these days so I'm just jumping on the train and let's see if we can win some more before the mixed doubles is over."
Swiatek and Ruud barely had time to cool down from their opening win before returning to the court to face Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti in their quarter-final clash.
McNally and Musetti had progressed to the last eight earlier Tuesday after taking care of Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils 5-3, 4-2.
In other early results on Tuesday, US tennis icon Venus Williams and partner Reilly Opelka exited against Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev, losing 4-2, 5-4.
Italy's reigning champions Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani ousted second seeds Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz 4-2, 4-2.
Earlier Tuesday, world number one Jannik Sinner's withdrawal from the mixed doubles was confirmed as expected. Sinner, who retired due to illness in the first set of his Cincinnati Open final with Carlos Alcaraz on Monday, was due to partner Katerina Siniakova in the doubles.
Sinner and Siniakova were replaced in the draw by the American duo of Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison.
This year's US Open mixed doubles competition is being held over Tuesday and Wednesday in the week before the main singles draws get under way.
The tournament is using a modified scoring system, with short sets to four games, no-advantage scoring, tiebreakers at four-all and a 10-point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set.
The final will be a best-of-three set match to six games, featuring no-advantage scoring, with tiebreakers at six-all and a 10-point match tiebreaker instead of a third set, with the winning pairing pocketing $1 million.
Ch.Thomson--EWJ
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