The tournament built its marquee around them, and the marquee lasted one round. Top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka and Novak Djokovic lost their US Open mixed doubles opener Tuesday to qualifiers Kateřina Siniaková and Henry Patten, dropping a match tiebreak 10-2 after splitting the short sets. The second-year format compresses the whole championship into three days at Flushing Meadows, with the final scheduled Wednesday. [1]

The bracket ate its stars with methodical appetite. Second seeds Jessica Pegula and Taylor Fritz went out in the first round, as did third seeds Amanda Anisimova and Learner Tien. Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the two-time defending champions, lost their opener to Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev. Only fourth seeds Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli among the seeded pairs kept winning. [1]

The paper opened the week with the books repricing a Slam missing its world No. 1; nobody priced the mixed draw's answer arriving this fast. The organizers added a qualifying event this year precisely because last year's format shut out doubles specialists — and the specialists qualified, then beat the headliners inside a day. [1]

Wednesday's semifinals and final will be played by pairs almost nobody put on a poster. The showcase became a doubles tournament somewhere between the toss and the tenth point of a tiebreak, which is the most honest thing the experiment has produced.

-- AMARA OKONKWO, Lagos