Tiafoe Withdraws, Djokovic and Sabalenka Get Tougher Rivals
Francis Tiafoe pulled out of the US Open mixed doubles with an injury, handing Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka the world's top-ranked doubles pair as their new opponents.
The US Open mixed doubles draw had stood for a week with the Serbian-Belarusian pair set against Francis Tiafoe and Leylah Fernandez, one of the matchups billed as the most watched of the first round in that event. Then, a day before the match, came the news that the showdown would not happen at all. Tiafoe withdrew with an injury, Fernandez pulled out alongside him, and the entire first-round mixed doubles schedule was reshuffled overnight.
In place of the favored American pair, Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten will take the court against Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka on Tuesday. It is a pair that reached the main draw by a completely different route, through Monday’s qualifying rounds, where they did not drop a single set. They first beat Tatjana Maria and Valentin Vacherot, then, later the same day, Peyton Stearns and Christian Harrison.
Who are Siniakova and Patten?
Siniakova and Patten are not qualifiers in the usual sense of the word. Both are currently the world’s number one in doubles and carry a full cabinet of Grand Slam trophies between them. Siniakova completed her career Golden Slam in women’s doubles earlier on, and last year she added a Wimbledon mixed doubles title as well. Patten, for his part, is a multiple Grand Slam champion in men’s doubles and one of the few players in this draw who looks more dangerous on paper than the pair that pulled out.
That puts a considerably harder task in front of the Serbian-Belarusian tandem than it appeared to be when the draw was announced. This is not Djokovic’s first time in this format; last year he played mixed doubles with Olga Danilovic, while Sabalenka’s doubles resume includes Grand Slam titles of her own. But an opponent that came through qualifying without dropping a set across two matches in a single day poses a different problem than the one they had been preparing for.
Why does the swap raise the stakes?
The change of opponent also changes the tone of the story around this event. Instead of an attractive clash with the home American pair, Novak and Aryna now start against opponents arriving in form, with two wins in one day behind them and nothing to lose on court. Qualifiers typically play with freedom, and when that freedom comes attached to résumés like these, the added pressure falls squarely on the favorites.
The match, according to a B92 preview, is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. The mixed doubles format has been compressed to its limits this year: the first round and quarterfinals are played on Tuesday, with the semifinals and final following the very next day, on Wednesday. For any pair that gets through the first round, that leaves essentially no rest, with the next match arriving just a day later.
For Djokovic, this is only part of a broader schedule in New York. He is seeded fourth in the singles draw, where his first opponent is Radu Albot, as we reported earlier this week. Mixed doubles serves him as an extra match ahead of the real start of the tournament, and now, after the change of opponent, as a considerably tougher test than expected when the draw first came out.
Organizers have confirmed that Siniakova and Patten, along with Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool, took the last two spots in the mixed doubles main draw through Monday’s qualifying. Tiafoe and Fernandez were out of the picture before they ever stepped on court, and their place was taken by players who, on paper, carry more trophies than the pair they replaced.
The answer to just how serious this new obstacle is arrives Tuesday at 5 p.m., when Djokovic and Sabalenka take the court for the first time against the reigning world number one in doubles.
