Czech Duo Muchova and Mensik Win US Open Mixed Doubles Title

NEW YORK —

Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik of the Czech Republic won the US Open mixed doubles title on Wednesday night, beating Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Flavio Cobolli of Italy 6-3, 1-6, 10-6 in their very first tournament as partners, according to the Associated Press.

The win came with a $1 million prize that Muchova and Mensik will split. Mensik, who turns 21 next week, closed out the match with an ace, the AP reported. It capped a run in which the Czech duo won both of their matches on the tournament's second day by pulling out match tiebreakers, fueled by Mensik's serve and his work at the net.

"I think at the end, really the matching outfit made the difference for us," Muchova said, according to the AP, referring to the pink tops and maroon bottoms the pair had settled on just two days earlier. Mensik said he had never played a mixed doubles event before this week. "My first mixed doubles, 100% win rate," he said, per the AP.

A Semifinal Escape

Muchova and Mensik nearly didn't make the final. In their semifinal, they were a point from losing before erasing two match points and reeling off the final four points to beat Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev of Russia 5-4 (6), 3-5 (11-9), the AP reported. Sky Sports reported that pair had trailed 3-0 and 8-5 in that match before turning it around.

Bencic and Cobolli reached the final by ending the run of Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina, a married couple playing together for the first time, 4-5 (7), 4-1 (10-5), according to the AP. Cobolli, this year's French Open runner-up in singles, called the mixed doubles run something he would never forget, the AP reported. Bencic and Cobolli had also eliminated Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals, according to Sky Sports.

The format was the second year of a revamped mixed doubles event, shortened and scheduled the week before the singles tournament in an effort by the United States Tennis Association to draw more top singles players, the AP reported. Several star pairings lost early, including Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic, and Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz, according to the AP, which noted that early exits by Williams, Alcaraz and others may explain a number of empty seats at Arthur Ashe Stadium as both semifinals ran long.

Serve And A Wardrobe Choice

Mensik's power on serve was a difference-maker throughout, according to Sky Sports, which reported his match-ending ace in the final was clocked at 131 mph. Muchova had first told Mensik to raise his singles ranking before she would agree to play with him, according to the AP; he then reached the semifinals of the French Open. Asked about the outfit that became a running theme of the week, Mensik said he hadn't been familiar with the word "maroon" before this tournament, the AP reported. "My favorite color right now is pink and maroon, that's for sure," he said.