US Open - How did Alcaraz look on Mixed Doubles return?

**Catherine** (0:10)
Hello, and welcome to The Tennis Podcast, coming to you for the first time in 2026, from New York City. David has been up for 25 hours and counting. Matt is still reading from whatever it was, Flavio Cobollo did earlier on this evening. More on that later. I am incandescent with the fact that I've just watched a stage be built before my very eyes at midnight for a ceremony with absolutely nobody in the stands. Stop building stages. But we are here and we are pumped and we are high on tennis. The singles gets underway on Sunday. The qualifying finishes up tomorrow, but tonight the spotlight has been on the mixed doubles and official Grand Slam Tournament, TM.
Revamped last year and eliciting much controversy, particularly among doubles specialists and doubles purists, and returning this year with much anticipation and a few tweaks here and there as well, mostly to give slightly more opportunities to the doubles specialists. But ironically, the title was won by Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik, two players that have won a total of zero doubles titles in their careers before tonight. A victory for Mensik and Muchova, and for matching kits, David.

**David** (1:45)
Yes, it's kind of the first thing that I noticed really when I saw these two come out is just how perfectly matched they were. And also, I think they're very nice kits, the sort of pink shirt and I don't know what colour you'd call the skirt and the shorts.

**Catherine** (2:01)
Yeah, maroon and sort of silky, almost like boxer style. So it's certainly a material.

**David** (2:07)
Yes, I'm certainly a big fan.

**Catherine** (2:09)
And David matching bomber jackets on display.

**David** (2:12)
Yeah, we've just seen that as they get ready for their presentation. They look like they've really got together and spoken to their... They've formed a band right now.
They've got the same kit sponsor, haven't they? And it sounds like they've worked this out. So this is how they're going to come. And they look the part. And my word, did they play well too, you know, with some incredible comebacks and yeah. And I actually, I love the fact that unlike last year, I thought the coolest thing about last year was that the doubles team just crashed the party and went and sent all the singles stars home and kind of ruined everything for the organizers in a way that got everybody on board in improving it for doubles players this time and making it more of an opportunity for them. And yet it's the singles players who ended up duffing them all up, which I kind of, I loved that as well. I think it was really cool.

**Catherine** (3:09)
Yeah, look, we've got a sample size of two of this revamped mixed doubles Grand Slams and we're inevitably going to do loads of comparisons of this year to last year. And I think it was very, very different this year in good ways and bad. Do you agree, Matt?

**Matt** (3:27)
Yes, I do really. I find myself feeling a lot less existential about it this year.
It's now just something that happens, the US Open mixed doubles event. And I think on this very show, in these same seats last year, I had a strong debate about the format and the players that are in it, and the qualification process. And I kind of just let all of that wash over me a bit more this year and just accepted it for what it is. And yet it did have a different vibe to last year. I think Muchova and Mensik were the winners. To me, they were the most competent pair that I saw right from matching their outfits and taking it that seriously, down to their game. Mensik with his big serve, Muchova lovely touch up at the net as we know she has. They dovetailed really nicely.
And yet one of their toughest matches was against the double specialists early on in the draw when they needed a match tie break to beat Aravallo and Kristina Modenović. And I think there was a world here where those double specialists did make their way through. And I'm not sure we can draw big conclusions about, oh, singles players are better than doubles players just from this tournament. I think a lot of those matches were very close. The margins were tight. And this time it was the singles players who came out on top. And I do think last year's tournament had more of an edge to it because of Irani and Ravissori and everything they stood for. We only really saw that briefly this year with Cinniarcava giving her line about how, oh, I still have to pay the Collies now.