In the mixed doubles competition, Britons Henry Patten and Lloyd Glasspool will both seek to beat some of the sport’s biggest stars after coming through two qualifying matches on Monday.
The US Open mixed doubles was controversially revamped last year to include singles stars in a bid to attract more attention to the format.
Under the new format, the top six pairs with the best combined singles rankings received direct entry into the main draw, with another eight receiving wildcards.
The tournament now takes place over three days in the week before the main draw began, and features a shorter scoring system with only four games required to win a set in matches before the final, no ‘advantage’ scoring and 10-point match tie-breaks instead of a third set throughout.
Both Patten and Glasspool had to come through qualifying with their respective partners on Monday.
Patten, a two-time winner of the men’s doubles competition at Wimbledon, and Czech team-mate Katerina Siniakova defeated Americans Peyton Stearns and Christian Harrison in straight sets in their second qualifying match.
Next, Patten and Siniakova – the respective men’s and women’s world number ones in doubles – will take on 24-time major winner Novak Djokovic and top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka in the first round of the main draw.
After defeating El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo and France’s Kristina Mladenovic, Glasspool and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe will face 23-time Grand Slam singles champion Serena Williams and seven-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz.
Alcaraz will be playing his first match in four months after recovering from a wrist injury, while Williams is making her return to the sport after a four-year absence.
