Shocking results in U.S. Open Mixed Doubles a disaster for ESPN

The shocking results at the U.S. Open Mixed Doubles on Tuesday were a disaster for ESPN. 

Only one of the top four seeds remained for the semifinals on Wednesday and none of them are Americans. All of the big names in tennis were eliminated in the first two rounds on Tuesday.

The married team of Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina lost to fourth-seeded Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli in the first semifinal at 7 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. The Czech team of Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova beat Russians Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev in the second semifinal. Mensik and Muchova ended up winning the title.

None of the remaining Mixed Doubles semifinalists were likely to draw casual sports fans into watching on Wednesday night. The 2025 U.S. Open Mixed Doubles had 343,000 viewers on ESPN2 for the semifinals and finals, a 31 percent increase compared to the 2024 championship match.

The 2025 event represented a huge shift in format. In 2024, the U.S. Open had a standard 32-team draw. The 2025 edition was a 16-team draw, with sets reduced to four games needed to win and no-add scoring. Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori won the 2024 and 2025 U.S. Open Mixed Doubles titles.