‘We’d never talked, we only met on Friday, but we’re a Grand Slam doubles team’

Emma Navarro and Jannik Sinner have a lot in common. Both tennis players in their early 20s have had excellent success, but they both want more, and they have almost all of their tennis energy concentrated on singles.

They will play doubles together at the US Open in August. They made their first official appearance on Friday.

When asked about the partnership, Italian world number one Sinner responded, “It was very unexpected to be honest.” She was the first person I met on Friday. We had never texted or spoken to one another.

The United States Tennis Association made the decision to hold the US Open mixed doubles this year as a standalone event on August 19 through August 20 before the hard-court Grand Slam will begin on August 24. The association said it hoped it would draw more well-known singles players.

One of the intriguing pairings that has been created for the tournament, which features Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz and British number one Emma Raducanu.

The general rule of doubles is that the better you know someone, the better you play together.

Sinner and Navarro can, however, take confidence from the instances of unexpected pairings coming off the top.

Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen, for instance, both won the 2016 Wimbledon mixed doubles title despite never having played together prior to the match and having several fights in the final.

Sinner explained at Wimbledon, where the first round matchup will take place on Tuesday against fellow Italian Luca Nardi, that the tournament kind of wanted us to play together because some teams had already been set up.

“I’m very happy to play with Emma, even though the choice wasn’t very big.” I already warned her against letting her down for my poor volleys.

Sinner has never competed in doubles before, winning the past two Australian Open titles and the US Open the previous year. He has also won the previous three Grand Slam singles titles.

Navarro, a quarter-finalist of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, has made numerous Grand Slam doubles appearances, but he also made it to the US Open semi-finals last year.

But she has never won a doubles match at the US Open.

In men’s doubles, Sinner ranks fifth overall in the world, while Navarro is ranked fifth overall by the WTA.

The US Open mixed doubles entry list also includes entries from numerous famous people, including Naomi Osaka, Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek, Nick Kyrgios, and Iga Swiatek. Zheng Qinwen, the sixth-ranked Chinese player, and Jack Draper will both be in the film.

On the eve of Wimbledon, Sinner is confident that his tournament chances won’t suffer as a result of splitting up with two key team members.

The 23-year-old’s trainer Marco Panichi and physiotherapist Ulises Badio, who have been working with him since September 2024, made the decision to keep their Australian Open titles in January and advance to the French Open final in June.

I recently parted ways, but it hasn’t had an impact on me, according to Sinner. I’m prepared to compete, I said. I experience freedom.

We’ve had incredible results with them in the past, which is obviously a huge thank you. But I made the decision to make a different choice.