WHAT HAPPENED: Perhaps because it was an all-American affair, Louis Armstrong Stadium was packed for the 2025 US Open Mixed Doubles Championship quarterfinal match that pitted Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton against Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison. And the fans were enthralled by the fast-format match that ensued—which Collins and Harrison took, 4-1, 5-4(2).
Collins and Harrison were the lesser-known team, a last-minute entry into the event. They were alternates, called up after Jannik Sinner and Katerina Siniakova pulled out of mixed doubles, following the illness that forced Sinner to retire from the men’s singles championship in Cincinnati on Monday.
On the other side of the net, Townsend is world No.1 in the PIF WTA doubles ranking and the 2025 Australian Open’s women's doubles champ. And Shelton is the highest ranked singles player among them, seeded No. 6.
In the first set, the left-handed team of Townsend and Shelton was the first to wobble. Townsend dropped serve to give Harrison a chance to serve at 3-1. Then the ever-steady Harrison seemed to wobble too, contributing two double faults in the next game. But he pushed past peril and he and Collins grabbed the set, 4-1.
Play leveled out in the second set. Both teams held serve, Harrison most easily of all—indeed his team had yet to drop serve all day. A second-set tiebreak seemed inevitable. And the patterns continued until errors piled up on the Townsend/Shelton side. With a tiebreak score of 2-6 against him, Shelton did his best to win his serve. But Collins’ return passed Townsend at the net and the shot won the second set, 5-4(2).
WHAT'S NEXT: The semifinals will be played on Wednesday night, followed immediately by the final. Collins and Harrison will play reigning mixed doubles champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, who won the US Open mixed doubles title in 2024, as well as the 2025 Roland Garros mixed doubles crown.
