France, Aug. 22 -- Just before the men's and women's singles and doubles began, US Open organisers hailed the success of their revamped mixed doubles event - which featured some of the planet's biggest singles stars but had pointedly snubbed specialist doubles teams.

"We've always believed that mixed doubles is undervalued in our sport and has the potential to engage and captivate many more fans," said tournament director Stacey Allaster.

Nearly 80,000 fans watched the likes of Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Gael Monfils, Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka on Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong stadiums over two days playing a glitzier form of tennis.

The traditional sets of six or seven games were ditched for sets of four or five games.

TheUni...