Iga Swiatek barely had time to celebrate her Cincinnati Open triumph before jumping straight into action in New York. Less than 24 hours after lifting the trophy in Ohio, the world No. 1 was back on court — this time alongside Norway’s Casper Ruud in the newly formatted US Open mixed doubles event.
Despite arriving at her Manhattan hotel at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Swiatek showed little sign of fatigue. She and Ruud stormed through their first two matches at Arthur Ashe Stadium, advancing to the semi-finals with clinical efficiency.
Quickfire Wins with Ruud
Their campaign began with a 39-minute dismissal of Americans Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe, winning 4-1, 4-2. Barely 20 minutes later, the pair returned to defeat Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti 5-3, 4-2.
“It honestly feels like the last two days have just merged into one,” Swiatek admitted after the matches. “But I’m really happy to be here.”
Ruud praised his partner’s grit, noting how little rest she had between tournaments. “She’s on a winning streak, and I just wanted to jump on the train. What she did — traveling overnight and playing like this — deserves a lot of credit.”
Other Results and Notable Exits
McNally and Musetti had earlier earned their quarter-final spot by eliminating Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils. Elsewhere, Venus Williams’ return to doubles with Reilly Opelka ended quickly, as they fell 4-2, 5-4 to Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev.
Defending champions Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani kept their title defense alive with a straight-sets victory over second seeds Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz.
One expected withdrawal was confirmed on Tuesday: Jannik Sinner pulled out of the mixed doubles after illness forced him to retire from his Cincinnati Open final against Carlos Alcaraz. His place alongside Katerina Siniakova was filled by Americans Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison.
A Fresh Format with Big Stakes
This year’s mixed doubles has been squeezed into just two days — Tuesday and Wednesday — before the main singles draws begin. Matches are played under a fast-scoring system: first-to-four short sets, no-ad scoring, and 10-point tiebreaks instead of third sets.
The championship match, however, will stretch to best-of-three sets, with a $1 million prize awaiting the winners.
