Wimbledon is not considering following in the US Open’s footsteps with a star-studded mixed doubles tournament.
US Open organisers broke with tradition by staging the mixed doubles over two days in the week before the main tournament and offering one million US dollars to the winners to entice the sport’s biggest names to play.
There were plenty of critics within tennis but the event was seen as a huge success, with packed crowds and massive interest and exposure around the world.
The other grand slams have certainly taken note but the PA news agency understands Wimbledon has no plans to introduce a similar format.
Unlike the other major events, Wimbledon does not open its doors to the public in the week before the tournament, with qualifying held off site at Roehampton.
Doubles is also very popular among Wimbledon crowds, with the format played by the majority of recreational players in Britain, meaning the empty seats seen at other slams are not so much of an issue.
Wimbledon’s options will increase when the All England Club’s expansion into the neighbouring park is complete, but the project remains mired in a planning battle and such discussions are a long way in the future.
It appears unlikely that the French Open would follow the US Open’s lead, while sources at the Australian Open, which has been a driver of innovation, have already indicated they are not planning to change their mixed doubles event in a similar fashion.
Wimbledon’s stance will disappoint Emma Raducanu, whose partnership with Carlos Alcaraz drove much of the traffic.
She gave her support to the format after taking to Arthur Ashe Stadium, saying: “I think it would be so fun if all the slams got involved and did something similar.”
The biggest criticism was that doubles specialists, who normally make up the majority of the mixed field, were largely excluded – although the only such pair, Italian defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, went on to win.
The shortened format, meanwhile, led to questions regarding whether it merited a grand slam title.
Britain’s Henry Patten, who has won doubles titles at Wimbledon and the Australian Open, was left with mixed feelings.
Asked about Raducanu’s enthusiasm, he said: “I’m sure Emma is probably up for it. I know a lot of the mixed doubles players, along with the potential for the pay cheque, were paid appearance fees to play it.
“So, if you want to have to pay players to play grand slams, then why not? But, if you want to keep it kind of traditional and how it has been, which I think is what Wimbledon kind of stands for and is famous for, then probably not.
“It played out exactly how we expected. It was a huge success. It was nice to see a doubles pair win it. Hopefully next year they’ll let a few more of us in.”
One very enthusiastic supporter was Billie Jean King, who has been a long-time advocate of greater integration between the men’s and women’s tours.
“I got to be here and watched it live and it was fantastic,” said the 39-time grand slam champion.
“This is what happens, the women realise the men can make mistakes too, but the men go, ‘God, you’re a lot better than I thought you guys were’.
“What it does is it brings people more together and they start to respect each other more and then obviously the two that won, won the mixed doubles last year, so they’re playing for all the other doubles players. There was a lot of emotion going on there and pride. I love it.”
