Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik secured the US Open mixed doubles title on Wednesday night, triumphing in their debut tournament as a partnership. The Czech duo defeated Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli with a final score of 6-3, 1-6 (10-6). The victory earned the pair a shared prize of $1 million, with Mensik sealing the championship point with a decisive ace.
The road to the title was far from easy. In the semifinals, the pair narrowly avoided elimination, saving two match points before rallying to defeat Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev 5-4 (6), 3-5 (11-9). This performance was particularly notable given that Mensik had never previously competed in a mixed doubles event, leading him to joke about his perfect 100% win rate in the discipline.
Muchova and Mensik’s collaboration began with a text message from Mensik on the eve of the tournament, where he emphasized the importance of coordinating their on-court attire. The pair ultimately chose matching pink tops and maroon bottoms. Muchova later credited their aesthetic choice for their success, noting, “I think at the end, really the matching outfit made the difference for us.” Mensik added that pink and maroon have become his favorite colors following the win.
The path to their partnership was unconventional. When Mensik first approached Muchova, she challenged him to improve his singles ranking to meet the tournament’s direct qualification criteria, which were based on combined rankings. Mensik successfully met this goal by reaching the semifinals of the French Open. “I put a little pressure on him, but in a fun way. It worked,” Muchova remarked.
The tournament featured a revamped format, with matches shortened to four-game sets with tiebreakers at 4-all for the first three rounds, before reverting to standard scoring for the final. The event, held the week before the main singles draw, saw several high-profile exits, including Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz, who were eliminated by Bencic and Cobolli in the quarterfinals. Other notable early departures included Aryna Sabalenka, Novak Djokovic, Alex Eala, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jessica Pegula, and Taylor Fritz.
Bencic and Cobolli had previously defeated Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils in the semifinals. The match against the married couple—who were playing their final Grand Slam together before Monfils’s retirement—was a tense affair. Svitolina and Monfils held a 4-0 lead in the first-set tiebreaker before Bencic and Cobolli recovered to win the set, eventually securing a 4-5 (7), 4-1 (10-5) victory.
Despite the star-studded entry list, the tournament saw no doubles specialists reach the final four, leaving the field open for singles players seeking their first major titles. The late-night finish of the final, which began near 11 p.m. EDT following lengthy semifinal matches, resulted in some empty seats in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Nevertheless, for runners-up Bencic and Cobolli, the experience remained memorable, with Cobolli describing the achievement as a career highlight despite the final-match loss. The report also notes that he figured, looking good on the court is important. The report also notes that now they look like a million bucks. The report also notes that who were smiling and pumping their fists after opening the lead in the match tiebreaker, they appeared headed toward a matchup with Andreeva and Rublev. The report also notes that muchova flung her racket to the court in disgust after missing a volley that gave the Russians a 7-5 lead. The report also notes that thanks in part to her hard-serving partner, who will turn 21 next week, but the Wimbledon women’s runner-up never lost belief. The report also notes that that we are here now.”, i’m happy we managed and we got in. The report also notes that with standard sets to six games and a tiebreaker at 6-all, the final was the only match of the tournament that resembled a regular match. The report also notes that but began to dominate midway through the second set, winning the final 11 points to force the match tiebreaker, then they dropped a set for the first time in the tournament in the semis.
