US Open mixed doubles dealt major blow as star-studded duo pull out days before start

The US Open mixed doubles event will be taking place from August 24-26 in Fan Week. 16 teams mostly made up of ATP and WTA talents will take to the courts at Flushing Meadows, although there has been some change ahead of the event commencing. This comes with the Japanese pairing Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori withdrawing due to schedule conflicts.

It was set to be a debut for Nishikori in this unique event, with Osaka returning after featuring with Gael Monfils in the inaugural tournament last year. The duo would lose their opening match against Lorenzo Musetti and Caty McNally.

Since then, Osaka has played no doubles on the WTA Tour, limiting her appearances in this category to exhibitions. She was, however, going to break the mould with a fellow Japanese talent who is soon to bow out of the sport.

The excitement was brewing around the duo with even talks of outfits being considered amid Osaka's highly regarded fashion taste regularly being showcased on court. However, all of this has been called off.

Their plans to compete have been scuppered due to their schedules not making it possible to compete. This was confirmed by Tennis journalist Ben Rothenberg who noted the former World No.1's scheduling difficulties ultimately forced her to pull out.

It would have also posed some difficulties for Nishikori too. The former US Open finalist earned a wildcard into qualifying as he looks to reach the main draw of a major tournament for the first time since the 2025 US Open, and very likely to be the last time with his imminent retirement.

The US Open singles competition offers so much for both Japanese talents with them having different motives heading to New York.

A two-time champion, Osaka rolled back the years after reaching the semi-finals of the 2025 event, only to be stopped by an inform Amanda Anisimova. Her form going into the 2026 tournament is also very good. An uncharacteristically positive grass swing involved a final in Berlin and a quarter-final run at Wimbledon where she took down the World No.1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Her North American hardcourt swing has also mustered up a lot of positives. A semi-final in the DC Open was swiftly backed up with a quarter-final in the Canadian Open. She then opted to pull out of the Cincinnati Open due to fatigue.

She will come to the US Open fit and fresh for possibly a title run against the best players in the world. There will be little to no chance of Nishikori confirming a maiden Grand Slam title with the 36-year-old way past his pomp.

In his hay day, the former World No.4 was a stark challenge to the Big Three on his day and gave his rivals a lot to think about. However, injuries have derailed any chance of him competing at the top for longer with him a huge trailblazer for Japanese and Asian tennis.

It has taken its toll with 2026 the final year of competing. He has been mostly competing on the Challenger Tour trying to find his old self, but recently has stepped back on the ATP Tour. He earned a wildcard for the DC Open and even won his opening round match against Juncheng Shang before losing in straight sets to Rafael Jodar. Attempts to qualify for the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open were failures, and now he has the US Open firmly on his mind. If he is to qualify one more time, Nishikori will need to win three matches in the brutal qualifying rounds to put on one more show on the big stage.