Can Taylor Fritz help save mixed doubles?

When the USTA announced in February that the mixed doubles event at the upcoming US Open was undergoing a format makeover and would be played the week prior to the singles main draw, the uproar from tennis fans and from doubles specialists created a din.

However, the reaction from the best players in the world was easily mistaken for the sound of crickets.

>>> Read more: US Open revamps mixed doubles format, adds $1 million prize

Only two premier singles players spoke out in defense of doubles; as it happens, it was the two singles runners-up from the last US Open, Taylor Fritz and Jessica Pegula. ‘I’m excited for the opportunity to play the 2025 US Open Mixed Doubles Championship during the first week,” Pegula said via the USTA. “I appreciate the importance of innovation and exploring new ways to engage more fans and grow our sport.”

It was Fritz, though, who ended up as the most vocal supporter of the move, becoming something of a lightning rod in the effort to make mixed doubles more relevant to fans—and profitable for the USTA. In his own official comments, he said: “Mixed doubles is always a great challenge, and I’ve had some amazing experiences with it over the years, from the Olympics to the United Cup, and even the USO Mixed Madness last year.”

There is a wall, and there is handwriting on it—along with the hand-wringing about it: That Mixed Madness event was a one-night exhibition for which winners Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa earned $250,000—or $50k more than the winners of the official US Open mixed doubles event.

Seemingly in response to Fritz’s ringing endorsement, his pal and generational peer Reilly Opelka took to social media to disparage doubles and, frankly, say what some players have been thinking all along. In comments on Instagram, Opelka declared:

“They should 100% get rid of dubs. It’s for failed singles players.” Opelka also trashed doubles for absorbing resources without pulling in audiences. “They don’t sell a single ticket, they take up practice courts, physios, resources. . .”

Those comments were hurtful to many doubles players, among them successful singles champions like former French Open runner-up Sara Errani, and highly respected doubles stars including Rajeev Ram and Kristina Mladenovic.

Things went quiet, but then a few days ago at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, Fritz again lifted mixed doubles into the tennis headlines. After joining with WTA star Elena Rybakina to win a mixed exhibition featuring many of the top singles stars, he told Tennis Channel, “I just asked Elena if she wants to play mixed at the US Open, so hopefully she says ‘Yes.’” He was happy to hear Rybakina respond with, “Hopefully we’ll play.”

Ordinarily this might not seem like such a big story. But the fate of doubles may be hanging in the balance. It’s clear that doubles is popular in direct proportion to the support it receives from top singles players. Sadly, for understandable reasons most contenders (at least among the men) at major events eschew competing even in the men’s doubles—never mind the mixed event.

That, in spite of the fact that fans seem to enjoy the mixed, which features prominently in any number of competitions, including the prestigious United Cup. Does anyone doubt that in today’s entertainment-driven sports environment, in which equal prize money and dual-gender tournaments have become coin of the realm, participation by the game’s elite would pay off at the gate?

The fundamental problem is timing. While moving the mixed doubles into Fan Week at the US Open has been perceived as a radical departure from tradition, Randy Walker of online magazine World Tennis reminded us in a recent post that prior to the Open era, the U.S. National doubles championships were always held the week before the singles event.

It’s silly to blame the sorry state of the doubles game on Opelka’s reviled doubles specialists. They are only seeking—and finding—opportunities to earn a living doing what they love. You also can’t blame it on fan disinterest when the names of the players are unfamiliar to them. The participation of stars brings water to this desert.

Now, if only Fritz, Pegula and other persons of influence could get the USTA to abandon the “Fast4” sets approach in favor of a best-of-three featuring the match tiebreaker, and we might see mixed doubles survive—and even thrive.