US Open organizers are hoping to put on a show with a star-studded mixed doubles tournament — but 2023 singles champ Coco Gauff will not be in the draw.
The WTA is well represented by Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Jessica Pegula, Madison Keys, Elena Rybakina, Mirra Andreeva, Emma Raducanu, and Jasmine Paolini.
Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Taylor Fritz, Alexander Zverev, and Daniil Medvedev are also in the draw.
Gauff is a regular on the doubles circuit, but decided to take a step back in a blow for US Open chiefs as she is concerned about her schedule.
“For me, it was just because I know the free week of the US Open is already packed for me, for sponsor things, and it was just like a whole other thing,” said the reigning French Open champion.
“And I’m very competitive; if I were to lose, I would not be happy. So, I didn’t want to waste mental energy on that.
“Then on top of the sponsor stuff, the pre-week, and then knowing that this finished on Monday and potentially having to play on Tuesday. Well, you would have to play on a Tuesday. So I just knew it wasn’t going to work out for me, scheduling-wise.”
Gauff takes on Lucia Bronzetti in the last 16 of the Cincinnati Open on Thursday — the final is on August 18, which is just a day before the mixed doubles begins in New York.
“I think it’s cool, and I think it’s going to be an exciting two days, and not knocking it off for the future,” Gauff added.
“It’s just that I plan my sponsor weeks literally like a year out, sometimes a year and a half out. And when this whole thing was coming up, I was already booked and busy.”
Fellow American Pegula is a fan of the event but thinks players should have been consulted more.
“I’m honoured that they asked me to play. It’s going to be great, it’s going to be fun and the fans will really enjoy it,” she said.
“At the same time, how they went about it, I didn’t think was really great. We were like, ‘Okay, you guys went rogue and changed the format and didn’t tell anybody. You just did it. Did you talk to the players? Did you get their input about how it could be better?’
“That’s something that we as players are trying to work with them on, having that line of communication be a lot smoother.
“I feel like maybe if there was feedback about the format, then the (reaction) would be a little different, not so all over the place.”
Pegula is already looking ahead to retirement having turned 31 in February.
Close friend Gauff is just 21 and wants her to stick around for a while yet.
“I think I was talking to Coco, and she was like, ‘You can play until LA!’. She was mad at me because I was like maybe a couple more years,” Pegula admitted.
“She was like, ‘If you’re going to play two more years, you might as well play another year for the LA Olympics. You can’t retire before then!’
“This was like a year before, and I was like, ‘Four years, that’s a long time. I will be 34. What are you talking about?
“She was like, ‘You can just stay top 20, with the way you hit the ball, you will be fine. I am not letting you retire before the LA Olympics, especially if I’m qualified!’”
If current trends continue, the US will be well represented in the women’s draw in LA with Gauff leading a charge.
The whizkid has jokingly called on the men to follow their lead.