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.
