Czech Republic’s Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova maintain up the trophy after profitable the blended doubles closing match of the 2026 US Open. Photograph: AFP
NEW YORK:
The Czech group of Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik gained the US Open blended doubles Wednesday, saving two match factors in a nervy semi-final after which pulling by means of in a good closing.
The pair survived a second-set pummeling within the championship decider in New York to edge Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Flavio Cobolli of Italy, 6-3, 1-6, 10-6.
Mensik, a singles semi-finalist at this 12 months’s French Open, sealed the triumph with a searing ace to the backhand nook.
One other Mensik ace saved considered one of two match factors earlier within the night when the Czech pair edged the Russians Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev, 5-4, 3-5, 11-9.
The back-to-back wins secured the primary Grand Slam title for each Mensik and Muchova, who misplaced a heartbreaking Wimbledon singles closing in July in three units to fellow Czech, Linda Noskova.
“On the finish the matching outfits made the distinction for us,” Muchova quipped throughout the trophy presentation, referencing the white and maroon package worn by the group.
The blended doubles occasion is in its second 12 months with a convention-busting format which options shortened units and a number of matches performed the identical day.
The competitors is scheduled earlier than the principle US Open to draw singles stars who normally keep away from Grand Slam doubles occasions to preserve power for the concluding matches of the largest occasions.
The event’s star groups — the cross-generational partnership of Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka — didn’t make it by means of the occasion’s preliminary rounds.
That left open a Grand Slam alternative for among the sport’s most achieved non-household names to nab a treasured main title, ensuing two semifinals and a closing that each one went the gap.
Earlier, Cobolli and Bencic beat the married group of Elina Svitolina of Ukraine and Gael Monfils of France in a hard-fought marathon, 4-5, 4-1, 10-5.
The end result ended the prospects for a fairytale finale to the profession of the acrobatic Monfils, who has stated 2026 will probably be his final season.