Top Seeds Djokovic and Sabalenka Lose First-Round Mixed Doubles After Comeback

In the US Open mixed doubles, top-seeded Novak Djokovic and Aryna Sabalenka fell in the first round to Britain's Henry Patten and Czech Katerina Siniakova. After leading 4-1 in the opening set, the pair saw momentum shift as Patten and Siniakova claimed the second set 4-2 and dominated the deciding 10-point tie-break 10-2. The decisive point came when Siniakova served an ace to Djokovic.

Patten noted the new format penalizes a single bad game, leaving little margin for recovery. The tournament introduced a condensed scoring structure—four-game sets, no advantage points, and a match tie-break—to boost the profile of mixed doubles by featuring high-profile singles players.