WHAT HAPPENED: The two friends who have bonded together over their shared love for the TV show "Friends" put on a performance in the US Open mixed doubles final made for primetime.
American Desirae Krawczyk and Great Britain’s Joe Salisbury, seeded second, capped off their dominant 2021 in mixed doubles with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over the team of Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador to win the 2021 US Open mixed doubles championship match in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Krawczyk and Salisbury held every service game in the final, and routinely weaved in and out of trouble in the first set as they saved a total of five break points before breaking Olmos’ serve in the eleventh game.
The win is a historic one for both champions, with Krawczyk becoming only the seventh player to win three of the four Grand Slam mixed doubles titles in the same year. (She won Roland Garros with Salisbury and Wimbledon with another Brit, Neal Skupski.) For Salisbury, who won the men’s doubles title with American Rajeev Ram, he becomes the first man to win both the men’s and mixed doubles titles at the US Open since Bob Bryan in 2010.
“We know we can win because we’ve done it before. But, especially this one, it’s [Desirae’s] home slam and she’s won three in a row... it’s incredible,” Salisbury said. “It’s just an amazing feeling with what we’ve achieved this year. Not just the fact we’ve won this week, it’s just everything, what we’ve done this week and this year combined.”
Arevalo’s presence also was history-making, as the native of El Salvador became the first man from a Central American country to play in any Grand Slam final. The partnership between Arevalo and Olmos started with a direct message on social media sent by Arevalo to Olmos about possibly partnering up for the US Open. After a couple of days, according to Olmos, she replied and accepted the offer.
The rest is, undoubtedly, history.
“It’s like a really, really special moment for me,” said Arevalo while holding back tears. “I never thought I would see a Salvadorean flag in the greatest stadium to play tennis, so it’s a really happy moment for me.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Almost inarguably, Krawczyk completed one of the great tennis seasons of the Open Era with her third Grand Slam title of 2021; Her name is now added to this exclusive list of players who have won three mixed doubles majors in a single year: Martina Hingis, Leander Paes, Martina Navratilova, Bob Hewitt, Marty Riessen and Margaret Court.
“To think about that, it’s just crazy to me,” Krawczyk said about being mentioned with those greats. “I’m just happy with how well I’ve done. It hasn’t really sunk in yet. I’m just happy to be able to play in front of a lot of friends and family here and play with Joe, and have our whole team with us. It’s been a good two weeks.”
MATCH POINT: Could today be the start of a mixed doubles dynasty? Krawczyk and Salisbury could have both won three mixed doubles titles together in the same year, but Salisbury decided to take a brief absence from their partnership before the start of Wimbledon to focus on winning a medal for his country in the Olympic games, eventually partnering with countrywoman Harriet Dart. Ironically, Salisbury and Dart lost in the championship match at the All-England Club to... Krawczyk, who partnered with Skupski to take home the Wimbledon mixed doubles crown.
Watch: Krawczyk-Salisbury vs. Olmos-Arevalo, mixed doubles final highlights
