The U.S. Open's reimagined mixed doubles competition has kicked off with veteran doubles specialists outshining top singles stars in the early matches. The event, which now precedes the main singles draw, has attracted significant attention due to its innovative format and the participation of prominent players.
In the opening match, defending champions Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani, both seasoned doubles players from Italy, defeated the duo of Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz with a score of 4-2, 4-2. Their performance highlighted the depth of experience and coordination that seasoned doubles players bring to the court.
Similarly, the pairing of Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti showcased their doubles prowess by overcoming the team of Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils, winning 5-3, 4-2. This match underscored the strategic play and synergy that veteran doubles players often exhibit, which can be challenging for singles specialists to counter.
The revamped mixed doubles format has been a focal point of discussion. Organizers have streamlined the event to feature 16 teams, with entries based on combined singles rankings and wild-card selections. This structure aims to elevate the profile of mixed doubles by involving high-profile singles players, thereby increasing fan engagement and media coverage.
However, the changes have not been without controversy. Some doubles specialists have expressed concerns over the new format and the allocation of wild cards, arguing that it may undermine the traditional doubles circuit. In response, organizers have reallocated last year's mixed doubles prize pool to traditional doubles events, aiming to balance player earnings and maintain the integrity of both formats.
The mixed doubles event has also seen unexpected developments. World number one Jannik Sinner withdrew from the competition due to illness, leading to the inclusion of American players Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison as replacements. Despite this setback, the event has garnered large crowds and enthusiastic responses, indicating a positive reception to the new format and its potential to rejuvenate interest in mixed doubles tennis.
As the U.S. Open progresses, the mixed doubles competition continues to evolve, offering fans a fresh perspective on the sport and highlighting the enduring appeal of doubles play. The outcomes of these matches may influence future tournament structures and the integration of singles and doubles events, reflecting the dynamic nature of professional tennis.
Danielle Collins took to social media to hit back at "keyboard warriors" but also clarify what happened in Cincinnati, revealing that she is dealing with a back injury.
In the Cincinnati first round, the American – who plummeted to No. 61 in the world – suffered a 4-6 6-7 (2) loss to Taylor Townsend.
After the match was over, a Collins outburst video started making rounds on X. Down 0-2 in the second-set tie-break, the 2021 Australian Open runner-up went over to her team – started to scream and cry – while letting out a painful statement: "Why is this happening to me?"
Don't have a good feed clip, but here is Danielle Collins becoming VERY upset in the middle of the tiebreak.
As the 2024 Miami Open champion was exiting the court, she didn't pick up her belongings. Instead, it was picked up by Townsend, who passed it on to the 31-year-old's team.
While some expressed a concern for Collins, some criticized her actions.
Collins: It's not surprising that the keyboard warriors can't understand my pain
The American tennis player noticed what was being said and written about her on social media and decided to react. In her message, the American revealed that she was battling a disc hernia. Also, she thanked Townsend for being classy and helping her on the court.
"Anyone who has a herniated disc knows my pain. It's no surprise the keyboard warriors can't understand or relate, as they've been too busy sitting on a**es judging people who show up and and try to give it their best even on days that suck. Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my injury and thank you to Taylor Townsend for being the best of the best," Collins wrote on her Instagram Story.
Coco Gauff made an honest admission following her Montreal exit as the American tennis star admitted that she probably should have played in Washington and tried to kickstart her summer on hard courts in the United States capital.
After losing in the Wimbledon first round, Gauff went a full month without playing a match. This week, the world No. 2 returned to action by kicking off her North American hard-court swing at the WTA 1000 in Montreal. In Canada, the two-time Grand Slam champion heavily struggled with her serve and rhythm, but still managed to clinch ugly wins over Danielle Collins and Veronika Kudermetova before world No. 87 Victoria Mboko handed her a 6-1 6-4 loss.
Across her three matches played, Gauff served 43 double faults and committed over 100 unforced errors. After the Mboko loss, the reigning French Open winner was asked if she had an idea why it was so hard to find her game and rhythm in Montreal.
Gauff: Deciding to practice over playing in Washington maybe wasn't the right decision…
"I don't know. That's a good question, honestly. I felt like in practice I was playing well the last few weeks just practicing. I decided to take some time off and not play DC to actually focus on that, and maybe that wasn't the right decision. Maybe it was better to get more matches under my belt. But you know, it's the first tournament on the hard court season, so I'm hoping that in Cincy and in New York I can find that rhythm," the world No. 2 explained.
In four days, the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati is starting. While Gauff's Montreal run wasn't an impressive run, the 21-year-old still got some matches under her belt and that's a positive thing.
Cincinnati is a special place for Gauff, who lifted her maiden WTA 1000 crown in front of her home fans two years ago.
Former three-time Grand Slam champion Lindsay Davenport says it is "unbelievable" that Coco Gauff has been winning matches in Montreal so far this week with her "C-level tennis."
So far, Gauff is two out of two at this year's Canadian Open. But both of her opening two matches were an absolute slugfest. Against Danielle Collins, the top seed sprayed a shocking 23 double faults and 74 unforced errors but still won 7-5 4-6 7-6 (2). In her following match, the two-time Grand Slam winner was down by a set a break – she fired 14 double faults – but somehow still found a way to beat Veronika Kudermetova 4-6 7-5 6-2.
As you could notice, Gauff's serving has been disastrous this week. But the top-seeded American is still alive and set to fight against Victoria Mboko for a place in the Montreal quarterfinal.
Davenport on Gauff's display in Montreal: Unbelievable she wins with her C-level tennis
“It was interesting she kept looking down at her grip when she was serving. It looked like they were trying to make some changes with the serve. She was not comfortable with it yet. It looks like they know it’s a problem and she didn’t have the confidence with it last night. Her toss was all over the place. But she still wins. It’s unbelievable her ability to figure out ways to win when she is playing, honestly, C-level tennis out there. She did a fantastic job managing her emotions," Davenport said on Tennis Channel.
Gauff's serving issues have been a major topic for the past two years. At times, the 21-year-old serves better consistently and that's when she usually does well. However, there are also periods when she simply can't catch any rhythm on her serve and that usually leads to some shock losses.
In Montreal, Gauff twice avoided picking a surprise defeat. It remains to be seen how she plays against Mboko.
By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, July 31, 2025 Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
The Montreal service line loomed like a fault line and Coco Gauff was blowing herself up.
The top-seeded Gauff coughed up 14 double faults but turned an early implosion into an inspirational ending playing her most dynamic tennis in the final set.
Gauff shook off a seven game spiral, surging back to score a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Veronika Kudermetova to battle into the Montreal round of 16 today.
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Down a set and a break, Roland Garros champion Gauff successfully fought off her own sloppy serving and shotmaker Kudermetova and will face either Canadian wild card Victoria Mboko or Czech Marie Bouzkova for a quarterfinal spot.
“I mean the goal is to survive and advance—we all know it’s not my best but it’s good enough for today,” Gauff said. “Mentally, I’m very proud of myself. There’s obviously parts of my game I’m working on, one of them being the serve…I look forward to the future when I’m feeling my best hopeful it’s a little bit easier.”
Through two rounds, Gauff has clanked an unsightly 37 double faults yet she’s reinforced her reputation for resilience raising her 2025 three-set record to 9-1 today.
The two-time Grand Slam champion has the ability to compartmentalize serve struggles, shirk stretches of shoddy play and fight furiously with the match on the line. The question is: Can Gauff pick up her serving as she progresses, and the competition intensifies? The good news, Gauff said, is she’s finding ways to win with her service game “on a crutch.”
“I mean, there’s positives and there’s negatives,” Gauff told the media in Montreal. “Obviously I am so disappointed in myself when it comes to that part of the game just because I didn’t play D.C. to work on that and made changes to that and doing well in practice and serving really well in practice. Yeah, so I just would like for it to transfer to the match.
“It does give positives that, okay, I’m winning these matches having literally like one part of my game on a crutch. So it’s like if I can stand on both feet, then I can only imagine that it would be a lot more straightforward and a lot more easier for me.”
Gauff committed 23 double faults—nearly a full set of doubles—in her opener vs. Danielle Collins yet still squeezed out a 7-5, 4-6 7-6(2) victory relying on her grit and legs to get it done in two hours, 56 minutes.
The normally feisty Collins’ continuously dropping her Tecnifibre racquet to the court in a show of physical frustration that certainly didn’t help her cause. Gauff kept calm despite the deluge of double faults and dug out a third-set tiebreaker, improving to 11-2 lifetime in third-set tiebreakers.
Today, the world No. 2 jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Soon the double fault ghosts haunted Gauff again. Part of the problem today is Gauff sometimes chased her ball toss and was hitting a hybrid kick-slice serve in the opening set: She wasn’t getting the pronation to bring the kick back down in the court but wasn’t slicing the serve severely enough to control it either.
Three double faults in the ninth game saw Gauff gift the break and a 5-4 lead to Kudermetova. If you’re Gauff—or her coaches—you might just want to hit some hard slice serves right into the body in those moments to sustain the racquet acceleration while getting enough net clearance to bring the ball down into the box.
Kudermetova cracked the wide serve on the deuce side to create space. When Kudermetova cranked an inside-out forehand winner she snatched the opening set exploiting seven double faults from Gauff.
From 1-4 down, Kudermetova tore through seven straight games building a 6-4, 2-0 lead.
Empowered by her run to the Wimbledon doubles championship earlier this month, Kudermetova held a break point to go up 4-1, but Gauff denied it. Gauff spun a forehand down the line followed by a backhand strike down the opposite sideline to hold for 2-3.
Striking her forehand with more conviction, Gauff drilled a diagonal forehand winner to break back and level six games into the second set.
Many players resort to the slice forehand when pushed wide on the stretch to extend the point. At times today, Gauff opted to hit slice forehands on balls right down the middle when she had time to set up and hit her traditional topspin forehand. You wonder why she doesn’t take the short preparation steps, create space between her body and the ball and rip some of those forehands just to get her groove going on that wing.
Deadlocked at 5-all, the second set turned on a series of close calls. Gauff badly botched a forehand sitter from nearly right on top of the net choosing to slice her forehand rather than hit it to face a break point.
Surprising the Russian with the drop shot, Gauff got away with it when Kudermetova caught up to the ball but shoveled her forehand out. Given new life, Gauff hammered a wide ace then jolted her opponent backward with a body serve digging through a tough hold for 6-5.
Knowing Gauff’s backhand is her more stable wing, Kudermetova inexplicably played the American’s backhand wing and paid the price as Gauff gained double set point in the 12th game. Kudermetova saved the first set point, but again challenged the Gauff backhand and netted a high backhand volley.
Playing from behind for most of the set, a gritty Gauff broke to force a final set after one hour, 56 minutes.
You can question Gauff’s serve and her sometime flaky forehand, but she is unquestionably one of the toughest competitors on the WTA Tour. After scraping into a third set, Gauff elevated soaring through eight straight points to open the final set. Gauff slashed a forehand crosscourt winner extending to 3-0. Kudermetova, who was sometimes barking at her husband and coach Sergey Demekhine by then, rapidly ran out of answers.
Reading the Russian’s wide serve on the deuce side, Gauff hit some of her finest forehand returns in that final set. A match that saw Gauff dump 14 double faults ended with Kudermetova hitting her first double fault.
Watching Gauff through the first two rounds of Montreal is a bit like watching a sprinter stack her own lane with hurdles right before the race yet still manage to overcome all obstacles and cross the finish line first.
“My energy level is there. I’m not quite at the point where these matches tire me out physically,” Gauff said of winning successive three-setters. “Yeah, I was training in Florida for three weeks having, like, three-, three-and-a-half-hour practices, plus fitness in 90-degree weather with humidity. So it doesn’t feel as long as it is said, but I would love to get these matches under the two-hour mark, but if that’s what it takes, I’m here to be out here.”
Earlier, Marta Kostyuk rose from a dramatic fall out-dueling Daria Kasatkina 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) in a match highlighted by one of the craziest points of the tournament.
Two points into the tiebreaker, Kostyuk slipped and fell behind the baseline, dropped her racquet, picked it up extended the point with a forehand and eventually won the point after climbing off the court.
Kostyuk converted seven of 11 break points and exploited 11 double faults from Kasatkina for her second straight three-set win.
The 24th-seeded Ukranian will face next American McCartney Kessler.
The 28th-seeded Kessler conquered fourth-seeded Mirra Andreeva 7-6(5), 6-4.
Coco Gauff admits she is disappointed in herself when it comes to her serving display in Montreal but also adds she is happy with the fact that so far she has managed to find ways to win ugly.
In the Montreal third round, the American – who is seeded at No. 1 in the absence of Aryna Sabalenka – sprayed 14 double faults against Veronika Kudermetova and she was down by a set and a break at one point. With her back turned against the wall and her serve not working, the two-time Grand Slam champion pulled off a big second-set comeback – gradually improved her serve as the match went on – and avoided a shock loss by beating world No. 42 Kudermetova 4-6 7-5 6-2.
Gauff, who had a first-round bye, also double-faulted 23 times during her opening Montreal win over Danielle Collins – that makes it 37 double faults across two matches played at the Canadian Open.
Gauff: I'm disappointed in myself when it comes to the serve part
"Yeah, I mean, there's positives and there's negatives. Obviously, I am so disappointed in myself when it comes to that part of the game just because I didn't play DC to work on that and made changes to that and doing well in practice and serving really well in practice. Yeah, so I just would like for it to transfer to the match. It does give positives that," the top seed said.
"'Okay, I'm winning these matches having literally like one part of my game on a crutch.' So it's like if I can stand on both feet, then I can only imagine that it would be a lot more straightforward and a lot more easier for me."
Gauff plays next against rising Canadian star Victoria Mboko. They met three months ago in Rome for the first time and the American was tested by the world No. 85 before coming back to win 3-6 6-2 6-1.
Gauff is evidently not happy with how she has served so far in Montreal and she will definitely emphasize doing much better in that department against Mboko.
Coco Gauff and Danielle Collins delivered an error-strewn display in Montreal but it was the No. 1 seed who managed to come out on top and clinch a narrow 7-5 4-6 7-6 (2) win.
Gauff, who is seeded at No. 1 in the absence of Aryna Sabalenka, sprayed a stunning 74 unforced errors and had 23 double faults. Collins wasn't any better, firing 80 unforced errors and 13 double faults in two hours and 54 minutes of play. Overall, the two combined for a stunning 154 unforced errors.
The third set was especially a rollercoaster – the top seed was twice up by a break but Collins managed to twice come back before also claiming a break in the 11th game to go 6-5 up. With a chance to serve out for the match, the world No. 61 failed to seal the deal and she paid the price by easily losing the tie-break.
How Gauff reacted to winning ugly against Collins?
"I was practicing well and I don't think I transferred it today, but hopefully I got my bad match of the tournament out of the way. Maybe if I cut that in half, it would be a quicker match for me… I thought that I was playing well, except that part of my game," the No. 1 seed said.
In the Montreal third round, Gauff will take on Veronika Kudermetova, who defeated Olga Danilovic in the second round. So far, they have met three times and the Russian caused some problems to the American in the past, having won their 2023 Doha battle. However, the 2023 US Open champion still leads their head-to-head 2-1 since she triumphed in their 2023 Stuttgart and Beijing meetings.
Heading into the match, one thing is for sure – Gauff will look to do a much better job of making less errors on the court.
