Married Tennis Stars Svitolina and Monfils Reach U.S. Open Mixed Doubles Semifinals/ TezzBuzz/ WASHINGTON/ J. Mansour/ Married couple Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils defeated the world’s top-ranked doubles players to reach the U.S. Open mixed doubles semifinals. They will face Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, who eliminated Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz after the star pairing won its opening match.
Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev will meet Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik in the other semifinal, with $1 million awaiting the champions.
Quick Look
- Svitolina and Monfils beat Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten.
- The final score was 5-4 (6), 4-5 (3), 10-8.
- They will face Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in the semifinals.
- Bencic and Cobolli eliminated Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz.
- Williams was playing at the U.S. Open for the first time since 2022.
- Andreeva and Rublev eliminated defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori.
- Muchova and Mensik defeated Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul.
- The winning team will receive $1 million.
- The tournament uses shortened sets and a 10-point deciding tiebreaker.
- Only the final will feature traditional six-game sets.
Deep Look
Svitolina and Monfils reach semifinals together
NEW YORK — Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils advanced to the U.S. Open mixed doubles semifinals Tuesday, giving the married tennis stars an opportunity to win a Grand Slam trophy together.
They edged Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten 5-4 (6), 4-5 (3), 10-8 to become the first team to reach the semifinals.
Siniakova and Patten entered as the No. 1-ranked players in women’s and men’s doubles, making Svitolina and Monfils’ victory particularly notable.
The couple celebrated with a hug and kiss on the court.
“Happy wife, happy life,” Monfils said during their postmatch interview.
Couple will face Bencic and Cobolli
Svitolina and Monfils will face Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in Wednesday’s semifinals.
Bencic and Cobolli advanced by defeating Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz 5-4 (4), 4-1.
Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev will meet Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik in the other semifinal.
The tournament champions will split a $1 million prize.
The potential payday would come during Monfils’ final Grand Slam tournament before he retires.
Williams makes winning U.S. Open return
Williams and Alcaraz began the day with a 5-3, 4-1 victory over Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool.
The match marked Williams’ first appearance at the U.S. Open since 2022.
“It’s always such an amazing place to be here,” Williams said. “I never expected to be back on this court, so it was just a really cool moment. I never thought this would happen.”
The 44-year-old Williams is a 23-time Grand Slam singles champion, while Alcaraz is a two-time U.S. Open singles champion.
They returned to the court shortly after their opening victory but appeared to lose energy after dropping the first-set tiebreaker against Bencic and Cobolli.
New mixed doubles champions guaranteed
Williams and Alcaraz began their first-round match shortly after two-time defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori were eliminated.
Andreeva and Rublev saved a match point before beating the Italian pair 1-4, 4-1, 11-9.
The Russian duo then defeated Diana Shnaider and Casper Ruud 4-1, 4-5 (9), 10-5 despite failing to convert four match points in the second set.
Andreeva, 19, disclosed after the opening match that she once had a crush on Rublev, her 28-year-old partner.
Their victory assured that a new mixed doubles champion would be crowned.
Svitolina and Monfils entered with low expectations
Monfils reached the U.S. Open singles semifinals in 2016, while Svitolina advanced to the women’s final four in 2019.
Neither has won the tournament.
Monfils, who will turn 40 on Sept. 1, received a wild card into the men’s singles draw. He and Svitolina were also awarded a mixed doubles wild card.
The French and Ukrainian players married in 2021. Their daughter, Skaï, was born the following year.
Because they initially did not know whether they would receive a place in the mixed doubles field, Svitolina said they entered without significant preparation or expectations.
“I mean, we practice quite a lot together back at home or on the tournaments. Only yesterday we worked on few things for doubles,” Svitolina said.
“When we warmed up this morning, yeah, I told my coach it would be amazing if we can win just a few games.”
They opened the tournament by routing Alex Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime 4-1, 4-1.
Muchova and Mensik coordinate their outfits
Muchova and Mensik advanced to the semifinals with a 4-1, 5-3 victory over Americans Emma Navarro and Tommy Paul.
The Czech players appeared in coordinated outfits featuring pink tops and maroon bottoms.
Mensik contacted Muchova on the eve of the tournament to coordinate their clothing.
“It’s definitely one of the most important things, to look good on the court, as well,” Mensik said.
They opened with a 4-1, 2-4, 10-7 victory over Kristina Mladenovic and Marcelo Arevalo.
Siniakova and Patten eliminated top seeds
Before losing to Svitolina and Monfils, Siniakova and Patten defeated top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic 1-4, 4-2, 10-2.
Siniakova ended the match by serving an ace against Djokovic.
Sabalenka, the two-time defending U.S. Open women’s singles champion, and Djokovic, a 24-time Grand Slam champion, received the No. 1 seed because they had the lowest combined singles ranking in the field.
Their defeat was not necessarily considered an upset because Siniakova and Patten are the top-ranked doubles players in the world.
U.S. Open adjusts mixed doubles format
The U.S. Open overhauled mixed doubles in 2025 to attract more prominent singles players.
Organizers moved the competition to a two-day period before the beginning of the singles main draw and introduced shortened scoring intended to produce quicker matches without exhausting participants.
The first three rounds feature sets to four games, with a tiebreaker at 4-all. A 10-point tiebreaker replaces the third set.
Only the final will resemble a regular match, with traditional sets played to six games.
“I will say if we play until basically regular rules, until six games, will be much more difficult,” Mensik said.
Doubles specialists regain a qualification route
The tournament modified its qualification rules again this year to allow more doubles specialists into the field.
In 2025, teams qualified based on combined singles rankings or received wild cards from the U.S. Tennis Association.
That system excluded most regular doubles players. Errani and Vavassori, the 2024 champions, received the only wild card given to doubles specialists and successfully defended their title.
This year, organizers added an eight-team qualifying tournament. It allowed two teams, composed primarily of doubles players, to earn places in the main draw.
Despite the change, singles players claimed most of the semifinal spots.
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