The deadline for entries is a week away. That's when the eight duos with the highest combined singles rankings will gain official acceptance for the event.
The USTA will select the other eight teams and give them wild-card invitations.
The mixed doubles was moved to the week before the start of competition in the singles brackets. Singles matches begin on Aug. 24.
In addition to Williams — a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion who is 45 and entered the tournament in Washington this week for her first competition in more than a year — with Opelka, and Anisimova with Rune, other new teammates announced Monday include Katie Boulter and Alex De Minaur, who are engaged to be married; Donna Vekic and Hubert Hurkacz; Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev; Iva Jovic and Jenson Brooksby; Gaby Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime; Demi Schuurs and Tallon Griekspoor; Katerina Siniakova and Marcelo Arevalo; Desirae Krawczyk and Evan King; and Su-Wei Hsieh and Jan Zielinski.
The original group of potential participants was released last month and included Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz; Emma Navarro and Jannik Sinner; Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud; Jasmine Paolini and Lorenzo Musetti; Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz; Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev; Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev; Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe; Jessica Pegula and Tommy Paul; Aryna Sabalenka and Grigor Dimitrov; Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic; Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios; Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton; and last year's U.S. Open mixed doubles champions, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori.
It’s a star-studded cast that is quite different from the mix of doubles specialists usually found in a Grand Slam mixed doubles bracket. Some criticized the changes when they were announced in February, with Errani and Vavassori calling the new format a “pseudo-exhibition focused only on entertainment and show” that would shut out true doubles players.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Credit: AP
Credit: AP