Overview

• Play opens Aug. 19 on Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong with a 16-team draw compressed into two days using shortened rules: sets to four games (no-ad), tiebreaks at 4-4, and a 10-point match tiebreak.
• Half the field was set by combined singles rankings and the rest by USTA selections, with the champions earning $1 million and finalists $400,000.
• High-profile pairings headline the schedule, including Alcaraz/Raducanu vs. Pegula/Draper, Djokovic/Danilovic vs. Medvedev/Andreeva, and teams featuring Swiatek/Ruud, Osaka/Monfils, Williams/Opelka, and Keys/Tiafoe.
• Doubles specialists decry the overhaul as exclusionary or exhibition-like, with past champions such as Errani, Dabrowski, Mladenovic and Salisbury criticizing the selection process; Errani/Vavassori are the lone established doubles team in the draw.
• Tournament director Stacey Allaster defends the event as a Grand Slam championship designed to boost visibility, as fitness questions linger for some entrants, notably Jannik Sinner after his Cincinnati retirement.