The big names tumbled on the opening day of the US Open mixed doubles tournament, with Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams among those licking their wounds after defeats.

The crowds packed the stands at Flushing Meadows as the revamped mixed doubles tournament captured the imagination once again, with plenty of unpredictability in the mix once again.

With pairings who have never played together before formed of players who may not know each other at all until they stepped on court, the shortened sets that finished when a team reached four games or five if the scores reached 4-4 resulted in some quick-fire exits.

Among the first to lose was Alex Eala, who struggled to connect with her Canadian partner, Felix Auger-Aliassime, as they fell quickly to the French husband-and-wife team of Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina.

Despite their comprehensive 4-1, 4-1 defeat, Filipina hero Eala and Auger-Aliassime still picked up $20,000 each from the event after their first round exit.

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The same prize money was won by the high-profile pairing of 23-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic and defending US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka after their first round exit.

Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova and Britain’s Henry Patten battled back after losing the first set against their big-name opponents to book their place in the quarter-finals.

World No 3 Alexander Zverev and America’s Taylor Townsend were also first round loses after their defeat against Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli.

And it was the Bencic-Cobolli team who were back on Arthur Ashe Stadium court to end the run of Alcaraz and Williams with a 5-4, 4-1 win.

While prize money has not been a driving force for Alcaraz or the younger Williams sister for a long time, they did pick up $60,000 each for their two matches in the lucrative tournament.

Now the final four pairs are looking ahead to challenging for the Grand Slam title and some huge prize money as the event reaches a crescendo on Wednesday.

Intriguingly, all four doubles specialist pairings lost to a team of singles players on Tuesday, banishing the notion that they had an advantage over players who rarely play in this format of the sport.

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The semi-finals will see Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev take on the Czechia pairing of Karolina Muchova

and Jakub Mensik.

Meanwhile, Bencic and Cobolli will aim to end what could be a fairy tale ending for Monfils and his wife Svitolina in what is his final US Open before he calls time on his career.

US Open Mixed Doubles prize money (split per pair):

Winner: $1,000,000

Runner-up: $500,000

Semi-final: $250,000

Quarter-final: $120,000

First round: $40,000

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