"Tell us you think doubles players are trash"- Ellen Perez and Jan Zielinski slam US Open's controversial mixed doubles decision

The US Open 2025 announced a major overhaul in its rules and regulations for its mixed doubles event in 2025. Major champions in mixed doubles, Jan Zielinski and Ellen Perez, have voiced their frustrations regarding the new rules.

The mixed doubles event in New York previously featured a 32-team field. However, the 2025 edition will reduce this to 16 teams. Eight teams will gain direct entry based on their combined singles rankings, while the other eight will receive wildcards.

The mixed doubles scheduling will also see a significant change at the 2025 US Open. Previously one of the last events to begin, it will now be held during the first week. To attract a larger crowd, organizers have moved the mixed doubles event to Fan Week, providing audiences with greater access to the matches.

Playing conditions will also be significantly altered. Earlier round matches will be best-of-three sets, with a 10-point match-tiebreaker replacing the third set. No-ad scoring will be used, and sets will consist of four games instead of the traditional six. Only the final will utilize the traditional six-game sets.

2-time mixed-doubles Major champion Jan Zielinski criticized the organizers for making these changes without having a dialogue with the players. The Pole also feels that the new rules are against the traditional norms of the game.

"No communication with the players, no thought behind what it means to some peoples careers, no respect to the history and traditions. Sad to see." Zielinski wrote on X.

Ellen Perez, the Australian doubles player was also critical of the new rules made by the US Open organizers, stating that these playing conditions made the doubles players feel like "trash".

"Tell us that you think doubles players are trash, that tradition is overrated and job opportunity is a thing of the past without actually saying it." wrote Perez on X.

The new rules will see the matches get over quickly and as a result, the mixed doubles event at the US Open 2025 will be over in two days (August 19 and 20).

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The US Open mixed doubles changes have not gone down well with players

In Picture: Kristina Mladenovic (Getty)

Jan Zielinski and Ellen Perez have not been the only players to criticize the US Open's decisions to narrow the field and change the scheduling and playing conditions. Earlier, former No. 1 doubles player Kristina Mladenovic also aired her concerns over the changes. She expressed that these changes were only targeted at generating more revenue rather than helping the players.

"Terribly shocking news! 👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻👎🏻Doing that just to sell more money during first week of the event. Making it look like an exhibition for whoever wants to play! What about players playing singles Q that want/could with their doubles ranking play mixed?" said Mladenovic

The increased focus on revenue generation from the mixed doubles event is evident, as it will be given prime-time slots on the ESPN network.

The event will take place on the two main courts- The Arthur Ashe Stadium and the Louis Armstrong Stadium to attract the maximum number of fans. The total prize money purse has also been increased with the winning team bagging a million dollars.