After one day of mixed doubles competition at the U.S. Open, there are zero doubles specialists remaining in the draw.
Two-time defending champions Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani are out. Henry Patten and Katerina Siniakova are out. Marcelo Melo and Kristina Mladenovic are out. Lloyd Glasspool and Erin Routliffe are out. Taylor Townsend is out.
Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina, perhaps the longshots in the field, were the stars of the day. They destroyed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexandra Eala before upsetting Patten and Siniakova in a 10-point tiebreaker for the third set.
However, Monfils and Svitolina will have their hands full with Flavio Cobolli and Belinda Bencic in the semifinals on Wednesday. Cobolli and Bencic won the Indian Wells title together this spring and once again played at an awesome level in their first two U.S. Open matches. They did not drop a set while ousting Townsend and Alexander Zverev followed by Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams in the quarters.
On the other side of the bracket, Andrey Rublev and Mirra Andreeva are looking good after dismissing the title favorites in Vavassori and Errani. Rublev won mixed doubles gold at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Andreeva has won two 1000-point doubles titles with Diana Shnaider, including in Rome this spring.
Semifinal predictions: Cobolli and Bencic over Monfils and Svitolina in 2, Rublev and Andreeva over Mensik and Muchova in 3
Final: Cobolli and Bencic over Rublev and Andreeva in 3
who ya got?
With the caveat that the Monfilses might be able to produce a miracle I agree with your picks. That other semi, definitely. And then depending on the super-talented married couple versus the red-hot doubles team. Bencic is superb in singles plus so experienced at doubles, and Cobolli very handy with quick reflexes.
Can’t resist the Andrey/Andreeva pairing