Ricky Dimon
Why wait until Sunday for the 2025 U.S. Open to begin? Good news: we don’t have to! Although singles action won’t kick off until the weekend, a newly formatted mixed doubles event will take place at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday and Wednesday.
An early start that doesn’t conflict with singles and a boatload of prize money ($1,000,000 to the winning team) have enticed some of the best players in the world to sign up. Among the stars in the field of 16 pairings are Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Iga Swiatek and Madison Keys. Other big names in the draw are Daniil Medvedev, Frances Tiafoe, Gael Monfils, Elena Rybakina, Mirra Andreeva, Emma Raducanu and Venus Williams.
From round 1 through the semifinals, matches will be best-of-3 sets with short sets to 4 games with no-ad scoring, tiebreakers at 4-4 and a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of a third. The final will be best-of-3 sets to 6 games with no-ad scoring, tiebreakers at 6-6 and a 10-point tiebreaker in lieu of the third.
Let’s discuss the odds to win and the best bets to make.
U.S. Open mixed doubles odds to win
Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton +550
Katerina Siniakova and Jannik Sinner +600
Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper +700
Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori +700
Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz +750
Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic +1000
Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz +1100
Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev +1100
Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev +1200
Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev +1800
Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud +1800
Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti +1800
Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe +1800
Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils +2000
Amanda Anisimova and Holger Rune +2500
Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka +5000
U.S. Open mixed doubles best bet: Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton +550
This American duo is quite simply the best team in the bracket. Obviously the best team doesn’t always win in tennis – especially not in this kind of format with short sets and no-ad scoring. That being said, you have to like Townsend and Shelton. Townsend is the #1 doubles player in the world on the WTA Tour. Shelton played a ton of doubles in college at the University of Florida and he has been dominant in doubles for Team World at the Laver Cup in recent seasons. Townsend and Shelton have played together before; they reached the U.S. Open semifinals in 2023 before losing to the top-seeded duo of Pegula and Austin Krajicek in a tiebreaker for the third set. The only bad news is that Townsend and Shelton could face Siniakova and Sinner in the quarterfinals – that is a rough draw. If they can get past that obstacle, however, they should be on their way.
U.S. Open mixed doubles longshot bet: Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti +1800
With Townsend-Shelton, Siniakova-Sinner, Errani-Vavassori and Rybakina-Fritz all in the bottom half of the bracket, the top half is much weaker. There are big opportunities for almost everyone on that side of the draw, and the McNally-Musetti pairing has the best chance to capitalize. In women’s doubles, McNally is a 2-time U.S. Open finalist and a 2-time Australian Open quarterfinalist. Musetti just finished runner-up in the Cincinnati doubles event with fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego. They have a very favorable path to the title starting with Osaka and Monfils in round 1.
