Italians Andrea Vavassori, Sara Errani defend US Open mixed doubles final in a tiebreak under new format

Elsa via Getty Images

Even with a new format this time around, Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani have successfully defended their mixed doubles final title at the US Open.

The Italian duo beat the pairing of Casper Ruud and Iga Swiatek 6-3, 5-7, (10-6) in the final at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Wednesday night. That gave them the title in the first ever revamped format of the mixed doubles competition at the grand slam event and a new $1 million prize. It's their third major title together as a team.

Vavassori and Errani took off from the jump. They rolled to a 4-1 lead in the opening set before Ruud and Swiatek finally started punching back. They won two straight to cut the deficit back to a single game, and even took a 40-15 lead in the eighth game, but Vavassor and Errani responded perfectly. They won seven straight points to take control again and quickly close out the opening set.

Ruud and Swiatek hung in there much better in the second set, and even took a 3-2 lead early on. Vavassori started receiving treatment on his left thigh, too, and actually needed a medical timeout. That break seemed to be exactly what he needed, though, as Vavassori and Errani won eight of the next 11 points to get out ahead again. They rallied from a 30-0 deficit with four straight points in the next game, too, and seemingly put Ruud and Swiatek away every single time they got close. 

Ruud and Swiatek managed to hang on in the ninth game of the second set, however, and stun the Italians to tie things back up 5-5. With all the momentum back, Ruud and Swiatek held on to win the next game and then broke Errani's serve to force the deciding tiebreak.

Whatever they lost, though, came right back in the tiebreak. Errani and Vavassori picked up three points immediately off massive slams, and then took a 4-2 lead after Swiatek struggled with her serve again. Vavassori and Errani survived a wild rally to take a 6-4 lead, too, after they let Swiatek and Ruud back in. That sparked a 4-1 run before they finally closed it out and claimed the grand slam title. 

Swiatek and Ruud pulled off a huge comeback to even make the final. After winning the second set to force the tiebreaker, Swiatek and Ruud scored the final six points of the night to secure the win after falling down 8-4. Swiatek scored a backhand winner down the baseline to seal the deal and knock off top-seeded Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper.

Vavassori and Errani didn't waste any time in their semifinal match. They rolled over Americans Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison 4-2, 4-2 in their semifinal match to make it back to the finals.

The US Open switched things up in the mixed doubles competition this year in an effort to revive that part of the grand slam. Not only did they put a seven-figure prize up for grabs — by comparison, Errani and Vavassori split just $200,000 for their mixed doubles win last year — but they changed the rules quite a bit. Sets were played to four games instead of six before Wednesday's final, there was no advantage scoring and there was a match tiebreaker instead of a third set. The event was cut in half to just 16 teams and moved to before the US Open singles competition even got going.

Though they won, Errani was among those who wasn't happy with the switch. After all, they were among the only true doubles team that was competing. 

"It would be like if, at the Olympics, they didn't let the actual high jumpers participate, and instead had basketball players compete in the high jump because it's more ‘interesting.' If you want to do that, I guess you can, but you can't award them medals," Errani said beforehand, via The Associated Press.

"You can't have a Grand Slam doubles [trophy] and not let doubles players take part. ... You're excluding them from their sport. It's dishonest."

Regardless of any criticism they dished out, Errani and Vavassori still came out on top and have another grand slam title under their belt. That and a $500,000 check each has to count for something.