Bencic and Zverev to Team Up for US Open Mixed Doubles Debut

Four years after clinching singles accolades in the Paris Olympics 2020, Swiss tennis sensation Belinda Bencic and Germany's Alexander Zverev will make their highly anticipated debut as a mixed doubles team at the US Open. According to the tournament's official website, this marks their inaugural joint participation in this event, despite having faced each other in mixed doubles back in the 2018 Hopman Cup final. Then, Bencic played alongside Swiss legend Roger Federer and secured victory over Zverev and Angelique Kerber.

The mixed doubles event at the US Open will employ the best-of-three set format, featuring four games per set, with no-ad scoring, and a decisive 10-point tiebreaker in place of a third set. The championship match, slated for August 20, will comprise a best-of-three set format with six games per set, and a 10-point tiebreaker replacing the third set. Remarkably, the competition's entry threshold was so stringent that world number 20 Bencic had to leverage a protected ranking due to her recent return from pregnancy, to join world number three Zverev in the lineup as her partner.

Bencic, with nine tour-level titles to her name, and Zverev, boasting 24 such titles, have illustrious singles careers but are also seasoned doubles players, each ranked within the top 75 in doubles competition. Notably, Bencic clinched an Olympic silver in doubles at Tokyo 2020 alongside Viktorija Golubic and achieved her doubles titles in 2015. Conversely, Zverev's doubles resume includes victories with his brother Mischa Zverev in Montpellier in 2017 and Acapulco in 2019, along with making final appearances six times in his career.

(With inputs from agencies.)