Mattek-Sands, Murray complete Dabrowski, Pavic comeback in US Open mixed doubles

NEW YORK, NY, USA - Defending champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Jamie Murray came back from a set down against No.2 seeds Gabriela Dabrowski and Mate Pavic to move into the US Open mixed doubles semifinals, 2-6, 7-5, 10-4.

“They came out on fire in the first set,” Mattek-Sands told wtatennis.com after the match. “Like, really. I thought we played well, but they just played better. I don’t think they even missed a ball until the second set. But Jamie and I, we keep our energy up.

“It’s one or two points difference in the first set, and if you keep your energy up, then it’s still one or two points in the second set. It’s not like we did anything really bad in the first set, they just played well. 

“Maybe we shifted around our serve a little bit [in the second set], or just focused on closing the net a little more, but there was no massive changes. We knew they were a good team.”

For Mattek-Sands and Murray, there was revenge on the line as well, as the pair lost out on a close three-setter against Dabrowski and Pavic in the second round of Wimbledon earlier in the year, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6. 

“We played them at Wimbledon actually, and we lost a really tight battle with them,” she said. “So I knew they were going to come out playing strong. They’ve been playing together as a team for a while, so they have that movement-chemistry that you get with partners you play with.

“I feel like [Jamie and I] trust ourselves that we’ll remember what we need to remember from our previous matches. But honestly, mixed doubles can be so fast. And it even varies from Wimbledon to here: like, here you have the deuce points, you don’t play the third set, it’s a ten-point tiebreaker. So it’s a completely different game.”

They await the winners between No.3 seeds Sam Stosur and Rajeev Ram and No.6 seeds Demi Schuurs and Henri Kontinen, who are set to take the court tomorrow. 

Also into the mixed doubles semifinals are the No.4 seeds Latisha Chan and Ivan Dodig, who knocked out Raquel Atawo and Fabrice Martin, 7-6(3), 3-6, 10-3 to advance. 

More to follow...