New US Open mixed doubles tournament begins and 4 teams are already halfway to the $1 million prize

NEW YORK (AP) — The new U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament drew plenty of criticism for everything from its format to its field.

With mostly singles players, some who rarely play doubles at all, and an unusual scoring system, it felt so much like an exhibition that Jessica Pegula had to scold partner Jack Draper when he called it just that in their press conference.

“He shouldn't be saying that, but that's OK,” Pegula said, later adding that “it’s not an exhibition.”

No, it's a real Grand Slam championship and it debuted Tuesday to positive reviews from players and fans.

The fast-pace event, with shorter matches and a smaller field, already is down to its final four. Whoever wins the trophy Wednesday night — and a $1 million prize — won't apologize for the way they got it.

“This is the official mixed doubles. If we get to the final tomorrow, I’m sure everyone is going to be pretty determined to try to win this thing,” Casper Ruud said.

Ruud and Iga Swiatek, the No. 3 seeds, easily won their two matches and will face the top-seeded duo of Pegula and Draper in one semifinal. Defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the only traditional mixed doubles team in the 16-team field, meet Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison — who weren't even the draw until Jannik Sinner and Katerina Siniakova withdrew Tuesday morning because of Sinner's illness — in the other.

Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu were quickly eliminated. So were the No. 2 seeds, Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina. Novak Djokovic and teammate Olga Danilovic also were one-and-done.

Those types of Grand Slam singles champions are exactly the types of players the U.S. Tennis Association was seeking when it revamped the tournament and cut it in down from 32 teams.

Now played over two days, mixed doubles starts well before the singles tournaments begin on Sunday, with organizers believing singles stars would be more interested in playing if it didn’t interfere with their rest and recovery during that event.

Traditional doubles specialists like Errani and Vavassori were among the biggest critics of the changes. The prize of $1 million to the winning team would be a huge boost to doubles players, but most of them never had a chance of competing for it this year. Errani and Vavassori said they were playing for those teams, but also acknowledged the potential benefit of the new event.

“I have to say that as everything, there are always positives and negatives. But the positives are for sure that the stadium was packed in the second match,” Vavassori said. “It’s a great thing for doubles to be seen by more people. I have to give them credit. I also said it before, playing this format is great for doubles and mixed doubles to develop in the future.”

Errani and Vavassori didn't even know originally if they would get a chance to defend their title in the new format, which gives eight teams automatic spots based on the players' combined singles rankings. The other spots are wild cards awarded by the USTA.

When Errani and Vavassori won the title last year in Flushing Meadows, it was late in the second week of the tournament in a stadium with plenty of empty seats.

The new schedule has mixed doubles being played now when usually the only competitions taking place are the qualifying events for the singles tournaments. Admission onto the grounds during what the USTA calls “fan week” is free, so Louis Armstrong Stadium stadium was packed for the opening match, a far bigger crowd than mixed doubles generally draws.

Some fans may not have even realized that the match was headed to a second set after Errani and Vavassori took the opener in just 19 minutes. In traditional tennis scoring, they would have had to win six games instead of four to win the set.

"I think some people could easily view it as they had to do less work to win the match. Stamina’s definitely less of a factor now that sets are only to four in the first two rounds, but I think it’s good," Jay Maresco of New York said after watching the Italians' second-round victory. “It keeps the pace going. It’s definitely better for the U.S. Open to keep the matches going in and out faster and more people in and out of Armstrong.”

The sets to four games with a 10-point match tiebreaker instead of a third set were to be used through the semifinals. Only the final would resemble a regular match, with sets to six games, tiebreakers at 6-all and a 10-point tiebreak for a third set.

Daniil Medvedev, left, and his partner Mirra Andreeva react during a mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Jack Draper, right, of United States, plays a shot as partner Jessica Pegula, of United States, covers during their mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Carlos Alcaraz, right, of Spain, and Emma Raducanu, left, of Great Britain, celebrate during their mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Casper Ruud, of Norway, left, plays a shot as partner Iga Swiatek, left, of Poland, covers during their mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Iga Swiatek, left, of Poland, plays with Casper Ruud, of Norway, during their mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Carlos Alcaraz, right, of Spain, plays a shot as partner Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, covers during their mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Iga Swiatek, left, of Poland, and Casper Ruud, right, of Norway, wave at fans after their mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Venus Williams talks with her partner Reilly Opelka during the mixed doubles competition of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

Venus Williams fist bumps her partner Reilly Opelka during the mixed doubles competition of the U.S. Open tennis tournament in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

FILE - Sara Errani, of Italy, and Andrea Vavassori, of Italy, react after defeating Taylor Townsend, of the United States, and Donald Young, of the United States, in the mixed doubles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

FILE - Sara Errani, of Italy, and Andrea Vavassori, of Italy, hold up the championship trophy after defeating Taylor Townsend, of the United States, and Donald Young, of the United States, in the mixed doubles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal agents carrying out immigration arrests in Minnesota's Twin Cities region already shaken by the fatal shooting of a woman rammed the door of one home Sunday and pushed their way inside, part of what the Department of Homeland Security has called its largest enforcement operation ever.

In a dramatic scene similar to those playing out across Minneapolis, agents captured a man in the home just minutes after pepper spraying protesters outside who had confronted the heavily-armed federal agents. Along the residential street, protesters honked car horns, banged on drums and blew whistles in attempts to disrupt the operation.

Video of the clash showed some agents pushing back protesters while a distraught woman later emerged from the house with a document that federal agents presented to arrest the man. Signed by an immigration officer, the document — unlike a warrant signed by a judge — does not authorize forced entry into a private residence. A warrant signed by an immigration officers only authorizes arrest in a public area.

Immigrant advocacy groups have done extensive “know-your-rights” campaigns urging people not to open their doors unless agents have a court order signed by a judge.

But within minutes of ramming the door in a neighborhood filled with single-family homes, the handcuffed man was led away and soon gone.

More than 2,000 immigration arrests have been made in Minnesota since the enforcement operation began at the beginning of December, said Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin.

The Twin Cities — the latest target in President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement campaign — is bracing for what is next after 37-year-old Renee Good was shot and killed by an immigration officer Wednesday.

“We’re seeing a lot of immigration enforcement across Minneapolis and across the state, federal agents just swarming around our neighborhoods,” said Jason Chavez, a Minneapolis city councilmember. “They’ve definitely been out here.”

Chavez, the son of Mexican immigrants who represents an area with a growing immigrant population, said he is closely monitoring information from chat groups about where residents are seeing agents operating.

People holding whistles positioned themselves in freezing temperatures on street corners Sunday in the neighborhood where Good was killed, watching for any signs of federal agents.

More than 20,000 people have taken part in a variety of trainings to become “observers” of enforcement activities in Minnesota since the 2024 election, said Luis Argueta, a spokesperson for Unidos MN, a local human rights organization .

“It’s a role that people choose to take on voluntarily, because they choose to look out for their neighbors,” Argueta said.

The protests have been largely peaceful, but residents remained anxious. On Monday, Minneapolis public schools will start offering remote learning for the next month in response to concerns that children might feel unsafe venturing out while tensions remain high.

Many schools closed last week after Good’s shooting and the upheaval that followed.

While the enforcement activity continues, two of the state’s leading Democrats said that the investigation into Good's shooting death should not be overseen solely by the federal government.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said in separate interviews Sunday that state authorities should be included in the investigation because the federal government has already made clear what it believes happened.

“How can we trust the federal government to do an objective, unbiased investigation, without prejudice, when at the beginning of that investigation they have already announced exactly what they saw — what they think happened," Smith said on ABC’s "This Week."

The Trump administration has defended the officer who shot Good in her car, saying he was protecting himself and fellow agents and that Good had “weaponized” her vehicle.

Todd Lyons, acting director of ICE, defended the officer on Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing.”

"That law enforcement officer had milliseconds, if not short time to make a decision to save his life and his other fellow agents,” he said.

Lyons also said the administration’s enforcement operations in Minnesota wouldn't be needed “if local jurisdictions worked with us to turn over these criminally illegal aliens once they are already considered a public safety threat by the locals.”

The killing of Good by an ICE officer and the shooting of two people by federal agents in Portland, Oregon, led to dozens of protests across the country over the weekend.

Thousands of people marched Saturday in Minneapolis, where Homeland Security called its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation.

Associated Press journalists Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis, Thomas Strong in Washington, Bill Barrow in Atlanta, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.

A woman gets into an altercation with a federal immigration officer as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A federal immigration officer deploys pepper spray as officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member, center, reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Bystanders are treated after being pepper sprayed as federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A family member reacts after federal immigration officers make an arrest Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal agents look on after detaining a person during a patrol in Minneapolis, Minn., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP)

Bystanders react after a man was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

People stand near a memorial at the site where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE agent, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

A man looks out of a car window after being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents during a traffic stop, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Robbinsdale, Minn. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Border Patrol agents detain a man, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

People shout toward Border Patrol agents making an arrest, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Demonstrators protest outside the White House in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who fatally shot Renee Good in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey holds a news conference on Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)

Protesters react as they visit a makeshift memorial during a rally for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer earlier in the week, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)