The all-Czech partnership of Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik capped off a fast-paced first week at Flushing Meadows by winning the 2026 US Open mixed doubles title on Wednesday night.
Most fans thought any of the double specialists in the field would once again dominate this event but in a dramatic late-night final under the lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the Czech’s edged out Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli with a 6–3, 1–6, [10–6] victory.
“I didn’t expect this before the tournament, but it’s such great fun. It was amazing to play and start the US Open like that.”, said Mensik.
To reach the final, both pairs had to survive tough semi-finals earlier in the evening. Muchova and Mensik saved two match points before narrowly squeezing past Mirra Andreeva and Andrey Rublev in a tense match tiebreak, while Bencic and Cobolli fought back to overcome “tennis couple” Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils.
Having had less than 20 minutes to recover from their semi-final escape, Muchova and Mensik initially showed little fatigue, using Mensik’s strong serves and clinical net play alongside Muchova’s crafty court sense to comfortably take the opening set. However, Bencic and Cobolli responded fiercely in the second, capitalising on plenty of unforced errors to dominate and force a deciding match tiebreaker.
In the final tiebreak, the Czechs rediscovered their rhythm. Mensik sealed the championship in style with his seventh ace of the night, in what was a memorable run for a partnership that had never played mixed doubles together before.
THE MOMENT KAROLINA MUCHOVA AND JAKUB MENSIK BECAME GRAND SLAM CHAMPS
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) August 27, 2026
Czech tennis is crazy.
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“This format of a tournament went really quickly,” Muchova said after. “I’m obviously super happy that we managed to win. It was not my expectation.”
With the triumph, the Czech duo earned a huge $1 million prize to share.
