The Czech pair’s victory offered organisers a showcase for their singles-star-focused mixed doubles overhaul, while also reviving questions about whether the shortened, lucrative event has left too little room for established doubles teams.
Karolína Muchová and Jakub Menšík beat Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 1-6, 10-6 to win the US Open mixed doubles title and split the tournament’s $1 million prize. The final came after the Czechs had saved two match points in their semi-final and had only 17 minutes before returning to court.
Muchová and Menšík embraced the format rather than treating it as a distraction before singles. “I’m obviously super happy that we managed to win. It was not my expectation,” Muchová said after the late finish.1 Menšík, playing mixed doubles for the first time, said the week had helped the pair experiment and given him “a little bit of boost of confidence.”1
One account of the event cast the triumph as a successful, entertaining prelude to the main draw: the field featured leading singles players, the semi-finals drew a largely full Arthur Ashe Stadium, and the finalists supplied a competitive finish. But it also noted the central criticism of the revamp. The competition was moved ahead of singles, reduced to 16 teams and initially left doubles specialists with limited access, even after prize money rose from $200,000 to $1 million.1
Organisers adjusted the structure this year by adding an eight-team qualifying draw, yet all four specialist teams were out by the quarter-finals. That contrast remains: the event produced a prominent Czech victory, but not necessarily an answer to doubts over its Grand Slam standing or representation.
A second report focused less on the format debate and more on the champions’ relaxed approach. Muchová credited the pair’s coordinated pink-and-burgundy clothing, saying, “I think in the end, the matching outfits made the difference for us.”2 It also highlighted a separate US Open reversal: after Patrick Kypson withdrew injured, organisers awarded Stan Wawrinka a main-draw wildcard for what is expected to be his final season.2