Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori won the U.S. Open mixed doubles title with a 7-6 (0), 7-5 victory Thursday over Taylor Townsend and Donald Young, who fell just short of a Grand Slam title in his final match before retiring.
Errani, who won a career Grand Slam in women’s doubles with fellow Italian Roberta Vinci, added her first career mixed doubles title to the Olympic gold medal in women’s doubles she won last month with Jasmine Paolini.
“It’s incredible for me this year. It’s amazing,” Errani said.
Townsend and Young, who have been friends since they were kids, were given a wild card into the event for what was the 35-year-old Young’s final tournament. The former top-ranked junior hadn’t played much in recent years, having made the switch to pickleball.
“Obviously wasn’t the result we wanted,” Young said, “but I can’t think of a better spot, place to go out in, having watched that as a kid, and playing with someone I’ve known our whole life. It’s pretty cool for me.”
He and Townsend made their way through the draw, knocking off defending champions Anna Danilina and Harri Heliovarra in the quarterfinals.
But Errani and Vavassori, the No. 3 seeds, dominated the tiebreaker and then won the match by breaking Townsend’s serve.
Errani hadn’t played a mixed doubles event for eight years before partnering with Vavassori at Wimbledon. They were knocked out in the first round, then reached the quarterfinals at the Olympics before coming to New York.
