Grand Slam champion publicly speaks out against US Open mixed doubles after he's not allowed to compete

The revamped US Open mixed doubles tournament is getting lots of people talking after announcing their initial lineup.

Tennis fans were shocked by the US Open’s announcement, with the lineup featuring many top singles players including Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

One of the names notably missing from the lineup was Coco Gauff, who could still play mixed doubles if she changes her mind.

However, another Grand Slam champion has revealed that he has been unable to play and has now hit out at the US Open.

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Jan Zielinski publicly speaks out against US Open mixed doubles

While there is a lot of excitement surrounding the lineup for this year’s mixed doubles event that includes teams of Alcaraz-Emma Raducanu, Swiatek-Casper Ruud and Madison Keys–Frances Tiafoe, the US Open have also been heavily criticised.

One of those to be previously critical of the tournament is two-time mixed doubles Grand Slam champion Jan Zielinski, who previously claimed the US Open have no respect.

Zielinski, who has previously played mixed doubles with his Polish compatriot Swiatek, doubled down on this after revealing that he was not invited to play mixed doubles by the US Open.

The 2024 Australian Open and Wimbledon mixed doubles champion wrote in a seemingly sarcastic message on X (formerly known as Twitter), “I guess winning two grand slams in mixed doubles in one year is not enough to get an invitation to US Open ‘exhibition’ event.

“Thanks for taking away the opportunity to compete and making it fair to everyone.”

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Not only has the mixed doubles event this year been criticised due to giving more priority to singles players over doubles specialists, but it also has a different format.

The tournament will be played over just two days, with sets being played first-to-four rather than the traditional six.

Although the majority of the lineup includes singles players with little doubles pedigree, there are also some that have found success on the doubles court.

Defending mixed doubles champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, who have also criticised the US Open, are the only team of doubles specialists included.

Before she was the world number one in singles, Sabalenka also won two doubles major titles with Elise Mertens.

Some of the other doubles Grand Slam champions included in the US Open lineup include Taylor Townsend, Jasmine Paolini and Nick Kyrgios.

Doubles Grand Slam Champion Number of titles Sara Errani 8 (6x Women’s Doubles, 2x Mixed Doubles) Aryna Sabalenka 2x Women’s Doubles Taylor Townsend 2x Women’s Doubles Andrea Vavassori 2x Mixed Doubles Jasmine Paolini 1x Women’s Doubles Nick Kyrgios 1x Men’s Doubles

Swiatek and Jessica Pegula have also been in doubles Grand Slam finals, with Olympic silver medallist Mirra Andreeva also a regular doubles player.

The US Open mixed doubles tournament will take place this year on August 19-20.

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