Key events
That’s all for tonight. Thanks for following along with us and be sure to check back shortly for Tumaini Carayol’s full match report.
The Errani/Vavassori repeat is something of a rarity in the US Open annals. It’s just the fifth time a mixed doubles team has gone back-to-back at the New York major and only the second time in four decades.
Swiatek/Ruud win 6-3, 5-7, 10-6!
Match tiebreak: Swiatek/Ruud 6-10 Errani/Vavassori
Swiatek wins the second point on her racket for 5-8. Then Vavassori slots a volley winner for 9-5 and a bunch of championship points. Swiatek and Ruud save the first of them after a heart-pounding rally. But a biffed volley by Swiatek hands the Italians the crown!
Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori are your US Open mixed doubles champions for the second year running, but surely this one is even more special given the symbolic underpinnings of the “newly reimagined” format. This one is for doubles players everywhere!
Match tiebreak: Swiatek/Ruud 4-8 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Swiatek serving at 4-7 … and she double-faults for 4-8! Oh no! That puts her side down a second minibreak. It could prove fatal. The crowd buzzes. She will have one more serve after the change of ends.
Match tiebreak: Swiatek/Ruud 2-4 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Ruud gets one of the minibreaks back when takes a 69mph first serve by Errani very early and pounds it directly at Vavassori, who can’t get it back over. The players switch ends with the Italians ahead, just.
Match tiebreak: *Swiatek/Ruud 0-4 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
Ruud nets a forehand early in a rally and puts his team immediately down a minibreak. Vavassori takes care of both points on his racket. Swiatek sends a backhand flying past the baseline on her serve and suddenly they’re down a couple of minibreaks.
Swiatek/Ruud win second set, 7-5
Swiatek/Ruud break in 12th game of second set!
Second set: Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 7-5 Errani/Vavassori
Errani is broken on her serve and we are headed to a match tiebreaker. What a comeback by Swiatek and Ruud, who have won 15 of the last 21 points. Notably, Errani got all five first serves in during that last game: 70mph, 78mph, 75mph, 76mph, 76mph.
Second set: Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 6-5 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Swiatek wins three straight points on her serve, mixes in consecutive double faults, then secures the hold when Vavassori frames a return.
Swiatek/Ruud break in 10th game of second set!
Second set: *Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 5-5 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
With Vavassori serving at 30-all, Ruud uncorks a sensational forehand winner from behind the baseline. A break-point chance for Swiatek and Ruud … and they convert it when Errani nets a forehand volley! Back on serve in the second!
Second set: Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 4-5 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Ruud holds at love and it will be Vavassori looking to close the show for the Italian team after the change of ends.
Second set: *Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 3-5 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
Errani holds for the Italians and the wildcard team is just one game from the finish line before an Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd that’s at least 70% full at 11.15pm local time.
Errani/Vavassori break in seventh game of second set!
Second set: Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 3-4 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Squeaky-bum time for our Iga. She falls behind love-30, then 15-40 and triple break point down on her serve. Ruud saves the first of them with an overhand smash early in the rally. But Errani converts on the second with a deft volley at the net!
Second set: *Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 3-3 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
The Italians breeze through enough service game on the racket of Vavassori, whose thigh doesn’t seem to be bothering him too much after the medical timeout.
Second set: Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 3-2 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Ruud marshals another drama-free hold. The No 3 seeds have won 12 of the last 13 points on his racket. More treatment for Vavassori from the physio during the changeover. And this time it appears they’re asking for a medical timeout with Errani having darted off the court and into the tunnel.
Second set: *Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 2-2 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
Errani, broken in her previous service game, bounces back nicely with the comfortable hold. She caps it with a 65mph first serve (!) to the body that Ruud can only return into the net.
Second set: Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 2-1 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Swiatek strolls through a confident hold, serving with authority and doing her part off the ground from the baseline. Meanwhile, the physio has been summoned from the tunnel and has gone to work on Vavassori’s left leg.
Second set: *Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 1-1 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
A goregeous stab volley by Vavassori closes out another hold from 30-all. High-quality two-way action in this one.
Second set: Swiatek/Ruud 3-6, 1-0 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Ruud cruises through another love hold to get on the board in the second set.
Errani/Vavassori win first set, 6-3!
First set: Swiatek/Ruud 3-6 Errani/Vavassori
Vavassori wastes no time, cruising to the easy hold to close out the first set in 31 minutes.
Errani/Vavassori break in eighth game of first set!
First set: Swiatek/Ruud 3-5 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Right when Swiatek and Ruud seemed to have wrested the momentum, they gift the break right back. With Swiatek serving at 40-15, she makes an unforced error off her forehand, followed by a double fault, followed by another sprayed forehand. Just brutal.
Swiatek/Ruud break in seventh game of first set!
First set: *Swiatek/Ruud 3-4 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
Errani is pushed to 30-all on her serve. The Swiatek smashes a backhand return winner to earn a break-point chance before converting it with a backhand volley winner. We’re back on serve in the first set!
First set: Swiatek/Ruud 2-4 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Ruud, who’s been serving so well all night, holds at love to keep pace with the Italians.
First set: *Swiatek/Ruud 1-4 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
Another brilliant hold by Vavassori, who pounds a couple of aces along the way before closing it out with an overhead winner.
First set: Swiatek/Ruud 1-3 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Swiatek’s shaky serve is at it again as her team goes down 15-30 on her racket. But they rattle off three quick points, capped by Iga’s superb backhand passing winner into the corner, to escape with the hold and get on the board.
First set: *Swiatek/Ruud 0-3 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
The Italians back up the break with ease and they’re halfway to the finish line in this opening set. (Remember: In the final, the format reverts to a best-of-three set match with a team needing to win six games to clinch the set rather than four.)
Errani/Vavassori break in second game of first set!
First set: Swiatek/Ruud 0-2 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
And the Italians waste no time drawing first blood. Ruud falls behind 15-30, then 30-40, and Vavassori pounces with a forehand passing winner.
First set: *Swiatek/Ruud 0-1 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
Vavassori picks up where he left off in the semi-final, strolling through a service hold to put his team on the board.
The players have taken the court for tonight’s final. The defending US Open and reigning French Open champions are first through the tunnel. And then it’s Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud, taking their chairs as TI’s Bring Em Out blasts through the arena soundsystem. On the line: the princely sum of $1m.
Errani/Vavassori win 4-2, 4-2!
Second set: Collins/Harrison 2-4, 2-4 Errani/Vavassori
Vavassori leaves no doubt, holding at love while crunching a 118mph ace along the way. The Italians are through to the final, where they will meet Swiatek and Ruud.
Errani/Vavassori break in fifth game of second set!
Second set: Collins/Harrison 2-4, 2-3 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
And the Americans give it right back. Harrison goes down love-15, then 15-40. Three break points but the Italians only need one as Vavassori takes command of a highlight-reel all-court rally. Gripping stuff that brings to the crowd to its feet. Vavassori will serve to lift his team into the final after the changeover.
Collins/Harrison break in fourth game of second set!
Second set: *Collins/Harrison 2-4, 2-2 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
Well, well, well. Errani goes down love-30, then 30-40, facing a break point for the first time in this tournament. And the Americans seize on it, moving back on level terms in the second set.
Errani/Vavassori break in third game of second set!
Second set: Collins/Harrison 2-4, 1-2 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Just when it seemed like the momentum was drifting toward the Americans, Collins is broken at love and the Italians are within touching distance of the final.
Second set: *Collins/Harrison 2-4, 1-1 Errani/Vavassori (*denotes next server)
Now it’s the Italians who are pushed to a deciding point as Vavassori has trouble getting his first serve in. But he delivers at 40-all, pounding a 126mph service winner that Harrison can scarcely get a racket on.
Second set: Collins/Harrison 2-4, 1-0 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
The Americans are pushed to 40-all on Harrison’s racket, but Harrison’s bold 104mph second serve on the deciding point pays off.
Errani/Vavassori win first set, 4-2!
First set: Collins/Harrison 2-4 Errani/Vavassori
Vavassori holds at love as the Italians waste no time bringing home the opening set in 20 minutes.
First set: Collins/Harrison 2-3 Errani/Vavassori* (*denotes next server)
Harrison goes down love-30 on his serve and the Italians are two points from snatching the opening set. They fight back for 30-all, but a Harrison double fault then gifts a set point to Errani and Vavassori. The Americans save it for 40-all and hold when an Errani volley sails wide.
