Many of the partnerships in the mixed doubles portion of the US Open were meant to be fun. Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils are different, though, and hopefully the married couple will be together forever. Besides the off-court relationship, they had a different reason to hopefully succeed in the event.
Monfils is retiring after 2026, and the US Open will be the last major he plays. A great memory would be taking home the title in mixed doubles with his wife.
After sweeping past Alex Eala and Felix Auger-Aliassime in the first round, they faced a much tougher team in the quarterfinals. Katerina Siniakova and Harney Patten excel at doubles, though not normally in mixed. What they lacked in a long-standing working relationship, they could make up for in their understanding of how to succeed in doubles overall.
Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils reach the semifinals of mxed doubles at the US Open
They had already taken out the top seeds in the first round. Patten and Siniakova overcame Novak Djokovic and Novak Djokovic in a deciding tie-break 10-2, so they weren't going to fear Svitolina and Monfils.
The first set was exceedingly difficult on both sides; the games were tight, and the set eventually headed to a seven-point tie-break after the set finished 4-all (four games is all a team needs to win a set in the current US Open format in mixed doubles). Even then, the points were tough to come by, though Svitolina and Monfils eventually took the breaker 8-6 and went up a set.
In the second set, Siniakova and Patten got an early break, but couldn't hold it, and Monfils and Svitolina got back to 2-all. As the match had been so competitive, a second-set tie-break seemed likely, and possibly a tie-break to decide the match.
The second set did indeed go to a tie-break, and it was the most lopsided part of the match. Siniakova and Patten took it 7-3 and had the momentum heading into the 10-point deciding tie-break.
At 1-all in the tie-break, Svitolina hit an amazing return after Siniakova had hit a well-struck forehand directly at her. Svitolina was able to get a racket on the ball, and it landed just in to take the point and get a mini-break.
That wouldn't hold, though. Svitolina served next and struggled with her own serve, hitting a forehand into the net after a return on her second serve. After that, Siniakova and Patten controlled the next several points to get a 7-5 lead.
Serving at 6-7, Svitolina served, and she and Monfils won the point, but immediately afterward, Siniakova and Patten complained the ball was a let. They didn't win the complaint, though. Sinaikova and Patten would win the next point, however, to get the mini-break back and lead 8-7. Like everything in the match, the slim advantage wouldn't last, and the decider was back to 8-all.
Patten then hit a double fault, and all Monfils and Svitolina needed was to win one more point with Monfils serving. They were able to pull through to move into the semifinals and keep the dream of Monfils making a special memory in his final major.
Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina don't know their next opponent. The other half of their part of the draw hasn't started yet. However, their opponent could potentially include the team of Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams, which would make for must-watch tennis.
Add us as a preferred source on Google