Doubles Take: It's all about the fans at the US Open

Doubles Take is here with the latest from the US Open.

Bethanie Mattek-Sands said it best on Instagram:

She and her partner Jamie Murray will be going for their first mixed doubles crown together after eking out a win against Christian Harrison and Christina McHale in the semifinals. In the championship match, they’ll take on Alicja Rosolska and Nikola Mektic, who rallied to defeat Shuai Zhang and John Peers.

On Thursday, the men’s and women’s semifinals take place and best of all for those looking to catch some world-class action, admission is free—one of the best fan-friendly initiatives in tennis.

Here’s a look at the matches on tap.

1

Radu Albot/Malek Jaziri vs. Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo (7): On paper, one might think it should be a romp for Kubot and Melo, last year’s Wimbledon champions—and it very well could be. They’ll know, though, that they can’t take Albot and Jaziri lightly. The alternates have beaten the last two US Open champs en route to the semis. Can they keep it going?

2

Juan Sebastian Cabal/Robert Farah (5) vs. Mike Bryan/Jack Sock (3): Going into the 2018 season, “Colombian Power” had established itself as one of the steadier teams on tour. This year, Cabal and Farah have taken their games to new heights.

This match against the reigning Wimbledon champions will be a test in seeing how far they’ve actually come along. Their familiarity with each other could be the difference-maker.

3

Barbora Krejcikova/Katerina Siniakova (1) vs. Ashleigh Barty/CoCo Vandeweghe (13): Krejcikova and Siniakova are thisclose to reaching their third straight major final, a feat they pulled off as juniors back in 2013. Standing in their way is this year’s Miami Open champs, who possess top-15-caliber talent in singles and doubles. Will that be enough to throw off the French Open and Wimbledon champions? This match could easily go the distance.

4

Timea Babos/Kristina Mladenovic (2) vs. Samantha Stosur/Shuai Zhang: What is this? 2006? That’s when Stosur first hit No. 1 in the doubles rankings, years before the US Open title and French Open final that shot her into the top 5 in singles. The Aussie has dialed back the years in partnering Zhang to the last four here. Babos and Mladenovic, who won the Australian Open to kick off the year, should be able to halt the run of the unseeded duo.

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