There’s nothing like a little ‘Tiebreak Tens’ format tennis at the Eisenhower Cup presented by Masimo! With a whopping winner-take-all $200,000 on the line for a charity of the champions’ choice, 16 of the world’s best players got a chance to ease into competition ahead of the main draw at the BNP Paribas Open with some exciting mixed doubles action.
Since this is far from your regular tennis event, we figured we’d give you something other than your regular recap. As such, we’ve decided to rank each of the seven mixed doubles matches on the following incredibly subjective criteria (out of five each):
Quality score. The overall quality of the mixed doubles execution and strategy.
Tension score. Was it close? Were we nervous? Any fingernails left?
Best point score. Plenty of highlight reel shots in mixed, but just how good was the best point of the match?
Vibes score. Just vibes. Can’t go into any more depth than that.
Maria Sakkari & Stefanos Tsitsipas (Team Greek Freaks)
d. Badosa Norrie (Team October Champs)
12-10
Quality score: ✨✨
Tension score: 🧨🧨🧨🧨
Best point score: 🔥🔥
Vibes score: 🤘🤘🤘
First match of the night, you knew everyone was going to be pumped up for it. 2021 BNP Paribas Open champions Badosa (a last minute replacement for Emma Raducanu) & Norrie took their contrasting game styles to seasoned the Greek duo of Sakkari & Tsitsipas, but came up just short in a great start to the competition.
Iga Swiatek & Hubert Hurkacz (Team Polish Power)
d. Leylah Fernandez & Felix Auger-Alissime (Team Québ´cois)
10-6
Quality score: ✨✨✨
Tension score: 🧨🧨
Best point score: 🔥🔥🔥
Vibes score: 🤘🤘🤘🤘
How can you not love these four players? With some great points, laughs in between rallies, and some resilient tennis from Fernandez against Hurkacz (who seems like… twice her size), the whole crowd was smiling after this second match.
Ons Jabeur & Casper Ruud (Team Slam Runners-Up)
d. Jessica Pegula & Tommy Paul (Team All-American)
10-5
Quality score: ✨✨✨
Tension score: 🧨🧨
Best point score: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Vibes score: 🤘🤘🤘
We got an absolutely epic point from these two teams & one miraculous bounce-back volley from Paul that had Jabeur falling over the net. This one was good, but ultimately was a bit of a blowout by the team of two-time Grand Slam runners-up in 2022.
Aryna Sabalenka & Taylor Fritz (Team Forehand Fear)
d. Belinda Bencic & Stan Wawrinka (Team Swiss Gold)
10-4
Quality score: ✨✨✨
Tension score: 🧨
Best point score: 🔥🔥
Vibes score: 🤘
Serving, serving, serving. Sabalenka and Fritz are known for their big forehands, but it was their serves that did all the damage in this speedy 10-4 decision over the pair of Swiss Olympic gold medalists.
Iga Swiatek & Hubert Hurkacz (Team Polish Power)
d. Maria Sakkari & Stefanos Tsitsipas (Team Greek Freaks)
10-7
Quality score: ✨✨✨✨✨
Tension score: 🧨🧨
Best point score: 🔥🔥🔥
Vibes score: 🤘🤘🤘
Definitely the most high-quality mixed doubles of the night as both teams of compatriots executed their tactics with excellence. Hubi was an ace at the net, while Tsitsipas and Sakkari played with panache all over the court. Wish this one was a bit closer in score, but overall they gave plenty for the Stadium 2 crowd to cheer for.
Aryna Sabalenka & Taylor Fritz (Team Forehand Fear)
d. Ons Jabeur & Casper Ruud (Team Slam Runners-Up)
10-8
Quality score: ✨✨
Tension score: 🧨🧨🧨
Best point score: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Vibes score: 🤘🤘🤘
Point of the night, for sure – and to be expected whenever Jabeur is playing a match! Great vibes from these two teams, who put on a show as they competed for a place in the final to play the Poles.
Aryna Sabalenka & Taylor Fritz (Team Forehand Fear)
d. Iga Swiatek & Hubert Hurkacz (Team Polish Power)
10-8
Quality score: ✨✨✨
Tension score: 🧨🧨🧨🧨🧨
Best point score: 🔥
Vibes score: 🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘
Vibes = the best (it’s the final, of course). Tension = plenty (there’s $200k on the line). Didn’t get any big points in this one but hey, you can’t have it all. Brilliant night of exhibition tennis from all the participating teams – and congratulations to Sabalenka & Fritz for claiming the crown at the first-ever mixed doubles Eisenhower Cup! 👏
