New York – The husband‑wife duo of Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils became the first team to reach the mixed doubles semifinals at this year’s US Open. They edged Katerina Siniakova and Henry Patten 5‑4 (6), 4‑5 (3) (10‑8) on Tuesday.

Monfils, who will turn 40 on Sept. 1 and is playing his final Grand Slam tournament before retirement, said after the match, “Happy wife, happy life,” before sharing a kiss and hug on court.

Semifinal Matchups

In the upcoming semifinals, Svitolina and Monfils will face Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli. The other semifinal features Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev against Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik. The winning pair will claim a $1 million prize.

Other Notable Results

Serena Williams and Carlos Alcaraz won their first‑round match but fell 5‑4 (4), 4‑1 to Bencic and Cobolli. Williams, a 23‑time Grand Slam champion, expressed surprise at being back on the court, while Alcaraz, a two‑time US Open champion, struggled after a first‑set tiebreak loss.

Andreeva and Rublev survived a match point to defeat Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori 1‑4, 4‑1 (11‑9). Andreeva later revealed she once had a crush on Rublev.

Format Changes

The US Open altered its mixed doubles format to encourage more singles players to compete. Early rounds feature sets to four games with a tiebreak at 4‑all and a 10‑point match tiebreak instead of a full third set. Only the final will use traditional six‑game sets.

Monfils and Svitolina entered the event as wild‑card entries. They were married in 2021 and welcomed daughter Skaï in 2022. Svitolina said the pair had not practiced specific tactics until Monday, noting they usually practice together at home and on tour.

Background

Monfils previously reached the US Open mixed doubles semifinals in 2016, while Svitolina made the mixed doubles final four in 2019. Their run this year marks an unlikely but exciting semifinal appearance against top‑ranked doubles players.

Original reporting: Texarkana Gazette — read the source article.