Errani and Vavassori win US Open mixed doubles title in Young's final match before retiring

NEW YORK (AP) — Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori won the U.S. Open mixed doubles title with a 7-6 (0), 7-5 victory Thursday over Taylor Townsend and Donald Young, who fell just short of a Grand Slam title in his final match before retiring.

Errani, who won a career Grand Slam in women's doubles with fellow Italian Roberta Vinci, added her first career mixed doubles title to the Olympic gold medal in women's doubles she won last month with Jasmine Paolini.

“It’s incredible for me this year. It’s amazing,” Errani said.

Townsend and Young, who have been friends since they were kids, were given a wild card into the event for what was the 35-year-old Young's final tournament. The former top-ranked junior hadn't played much in recent years, having made the switch to pickleball.

“Obviously wasn’t the result we wanted,” Young said, “but I can’t think of a better spot, place to go out in, having watched that as a kid, and playing with someone I’ve known our whole life. It’s pretty cool for me.”

He and Townsend made their way through the draw, knocking off defending champions Anna Danilina and Harri Heliovarra in the quarterfinals.

But Errani and Vavassori, the No. 3 seeds, dominated the tiebreaker and then won the match by breaking Townsend's serve.

Errani hadn't played a mixed doubles event for eight years before partnering with Vavassori at Wimbledon. They were knocked out in the first round, then reached the quarterfinals at the Olympics before coming to New York.

Young's parents coached Townsend, who lost in the women's doubles semifinals with Katerina Siniakova after they won the Wimbledon title.

The 28-year-old Townsend said after the match that she hoped fans seeing two Black players in the finals, after Coco Gauff won the women's title in Flushing Meadows last year and Frances Tiafoe is in the men's semifinals Friday, would inspire more of them to play.

Young was then presented with a framed collage of photos of himself playing at the U.S. Open.

“For me, Donald and I, we go so far back. I mean, in life in general,” Townsend said. "It’s not the end. We both live in Atlanta, so I’m going to see him a ton and follow what he’s doing in the next chapter. But it’s cool to be able to close the book this way. Again, being able to leave here with some hardware when a lot of people didn’t, that’s the most special thing.

“So, I mean, it’s fantastic. I’m glad to be able to do it by his side.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Brian Mahoney, The Associated Press