(Sports Correspondent: Imran Sohail)
Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud Advance in US Open Mixed Doubles
NEW YORK: Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud powered through back-to-back wins in the revamped US Open mixed doubles on Tuesday, reaching the semi-finals despite Swiatek’s busy schedule.
Swiatek, fresh off a tough Cincinnati Open victory over Jasmine Paolini on Monday, showed no signs of fatigue as she and Ruud dominated the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
In their opening match, the duo defeated Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe 4-1, 4-2 in just 39 minutes. They returned 20 minutes later to beat Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti 5-3, 4-2 in the quarter-finals.
Swiatek had flown overnight from Cincinnati to New York, arriving at her hotel in the early hours of Tuesday, before stepping straight onto the court.
“Honestly the last two days have felt like one day, but I’m super happy to be here,” Swiatek said.
Ruud praised his partner’s resilience, noting, “Iga only got to her hotel 12 hours ago at 2:30 a.m., and she’s here playing. She’s on the winning train these days, and I’m just hopping on.”
Earlier Tuesday, Venus Williams and partner Reilly Opelka were eliminated by Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev, while Italy’s Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani upset second seeds Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz 4-2, 4-2.
World number one Jannik Sinner withdrew from the mixed doubles due to illness after retiring in his Cincinnati final, and was replaced by Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison.
This year’s mixed doubles features a modified scoring format: short sets to four games, no-ad scoring, tiebreakers at 4-all, and a 10-point match tiebreak instead of a third set. The final will be a best-of-three set match to six games, with a $1 million prize for the winning team.
