Keystone
Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev were eliminated in the first round of the spectacularly reformed mixed competition at the US Open.
The two Olympic singles champions from Tokyo lost 0:4, 3:5 to the American duo Danielle Collins/Christian Harrison.
The mixed doubles at the fourth and final Grand Slam of the year will not take place during the tournament as usual, but in the previous week and only on two days. The matches will be played in shortened sets and will take place in the large stadiums. The prize money for the winning team is increased to one million dollars.
As a rule, the top stars do not take part in the mixed competition in order to focus on the singles. Bencic and Zverev, who have known each other since their early youth, qualified via their positions in the singles world rankings. Eight of the 16 places were allocated by wildcards – much to the annoyance of the doubles specialists. There is criticism of the new format.
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