New York: Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova clinched the US Open 2026 mixed doubles title on Thursday after beating Flavio Cobolli and Belinda Bencic in the final at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. The Czech pair secured their first Grand Slam title as a team, defeating the Italian-Swiss duo in a one-hour, 13-minute encounter, 6-3, 1-6, (10-6).
Mensik and Muchova teed off well, holding their serves to lead 2-1 before breaking Bencic and Cobolli in the fourth game, with the Swiss player hitting wide. Bencic and Cobolli fought back strongly, holding to love in the sixth game, but could not secure the break as the Czech pair won the opening set 6-3.
Bencic and Cobolli took the break back in the second set when the former hit a forehand return winner, taking a 3-1 lead. Their impressive comeback continued when Cobolli consolidated on his serve, before Mensik was broken. Bencic then served for the second set and bagged it 6-1.
It went to a tiebreak, but the Czech pair did enough to keep their opponents at bay. They led 9-5 before Mensik nailed an ace to take the tiebreak and clinch the US Open title. The two had come into this game on the back of a tiebreak win over Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev in the semi-final.
“I think in the end, the matching outfits made the difference for us,” Muchova joked after the match, as quoted by ATP, referring to similar coloured kits the pair wore. “I wasn’t really expecting to be standing here tonight. We came out just having fun and enjoyed this mixed doubles [event], and now we are standing here.”
Mensik reflected on the milestone victory, saying, “It’s my first time standing here. I didn’t expect this before the tournament, but it’s such great fun. It was amazing to play and start the US Open like that.”
IANS
