Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka: From Smiles to Bitterness in Less Than an Hour

On the hard court of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the US Open mixed doubles event was supposed to be the perfect stage for Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka: a true cover-story pair, whose mere presence is enough to captivate the audience. Yet, as is often the case, the court can tell a very different story, and that’s exactly what happened at the US Open in the first round of mixed doubles: Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten, the world’s top-ranked players in their respective doubles categories, came out on top.

Djokovic and Sabalenka got off to a blistering start and dominated the first set, winning it 4-1 (the mixed doubles rules at the US Open call for shorter matches with a different scoring system). However, the confidence of those who knew they were the stronger pair began to wane as the match progressed. Patten and Siniakova—who, due to the unusual rules, were forced to start in the qualifiers to enter the main draw—first tied the match by winning the second set 4-2, and then dominated the super tiebreak with a decisive 10-2 victory, wrapping up the match in 48 minutes.

Thus, in less than an hour, the match took an unexpected turn. Djokovic stood motionless after the final ace, almost in disbelief. Siniakova and Patten advance to the next round (their next opponents are Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina), while Djokovic and Sabalenka leave Arthur Ashe Stadium with a feeling they haven’t experienced in a long time: that of having been overwhelmed by opponents who, at least on paper, were supposed to be the underdogs.