Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik Crowned US Open Mixed Doubles Champions
Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday as a new pairing looking for a spark. They walked out as US Open mixed doubles champions.
The Czech duo overpowered Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 1-6, 10-6, riding a wave of big serves, sharp net play and just enough nerve in the deciding match tiebreak to claim their first Grand Slam title together.
Fast start, sudden swing
From the first game, Mensik set the tone. The 20-year-old attacked his service games, ripping through the opener with the kind of pace that left Bencic and Cobolli reacting more than dictating. On set point, he underlined that dominance, firing an ace past Bencic to close out the set in under half an hour.
The early balance didn’t last.
Bencic, one of the most accomplished returners on tour, stepped in and took control of the second set. She drilled a clean return winner to earn the break for 3-1, and the momentum flipped. Cobolli settled, the Italian finding his rhythm on serve as the European pair tightened their formation and began to pick apart the Czechs’ patterns.
Pressure mounted on Muchova’s delivery, and the set ran away from the Czechs. Bencic levelled the match in fittingly cruel fashion for Muchova, her forehand clipping the net cord and skipping just beyond the Czech’s reach for the set.
One set all. One Grand Slam title on the line. A race to 10 points would decide it.
Mensik takes charge in the breaker
The deciding tiebreak belonged to Mensik.
His serve, already a weapon all night, became the anchor. Free points flowed. When the rallies did develop, he closed in on the net with conviction, cutting off angles and forcing rushed replies from Bencic and Cobolli.
At 7-4, the Czechs were edging away. Then came a statement point: Mensik pounced on a short ball and punched away a firm volley to stretch the lead to 8-4, a roar following as the Czech pair moved within touching distance of the title.
Muchova, who had ridden the emotional swings of the second set, then produced her best serve of the match, a clutch delivery that brought up championship points and steadied any lingering nerves.
Mensik finished it as he had started it – with an ace. The serve flew past Cobolli, the scoreboard flashed 10-6, and Mensik leapt into the air, celebrating not just a win, but the first trophy of this year’s final Grand Slam.
From match points down to champions
Their run to the title had already been hanging by a thread.
In the semifinals, Muchova and Mensik stared down two match points against Russians Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev. They survived, turned the match around, and used that escape as fuel for the final. The pair who had come into the event “just to have fun,” as Muchova later put it, suddenly found themselves navigating the tightest moments with the composure of seasoned doubles specialists.
On court after the win, Muchova let some of the tension go with a smile and a line that matched the light-hearted spirit of their campaign.
“I think in the end the matching outfits made the difference for us,” she said during the trophy ceremony, drawing laughter from the crowd. She admitted she hadn’t expected to be standing there on the first week of the US Open, trophy in hand. They had signed up to enjoy the mixed doubles. They walked away with something far more tangible.
“I think this is a really good start to the US Open for all of us,” she added, after offering warm congratulations to Bencic and Cobolli.
A new look, and a new set of stars
Their title comes in only the second year of the US Open’s revamped 16-team mixed doubles draw, an experiment designed to bring leading singles names into the format and pack the stands in the days before the singles main draw begins.
On this evidence, it is working. Big names, tight matches, a final decided by a 10-point shootout under the lights of Arthur Ashe – and a young Czech partnership that turned a late-August side event into the launchpad of their fortnight.
If this is how Muchova and Mensik start their US Open, what might the rest of New York have in store for them?
