It’s the Olympics, not some f**king exhibition

Mixed doubles tennis is set to undergo a bizarre change for the 2028 LA Olympics. The change was confirmed recently by the International Tennis Federation (ITF), but the update didn’t go down well with many tennis fans.

On Tuesday, July 15, the official X (formerly Twitter) handle of the ITF announced that the mixed double medal matches at the 2028 LA Olympics will take place on the second day of the gala sporting event, which is slated to commence on Friday, July 14, 2028 and end on Sunday, July 30. The update read:

“🏅LA28 Olympic Tennis Event Update🏅 The LA28 Olympic Tennis Event will comprise men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles and mixed doubles. The mixed doubles medal matches will take place on day two of the event.”

Several fans wondered if the mixed doubles format at the 2028 LA Olympics will be similar to the revamped format for this year’s US Open. At the upcoming hardcourt Major, multiple high-profile teams have been announced, mostly consisting of elite singles players from the ATP and WTA ranks pairing up. The change has been a controversial one, with many purists suggesting that the revamp will reduce mixed doubles to an exhibition.

“”The mixed doubles medal matches will take place on day two of the event.” How is this possible? How many teams will be allowed entrance? Are they not playing proper sets? It’s the Olympics for God’s sake, not some f**king exhibition,” one fan wrote.

“The Mixed Doubles event at the OLYMPIC games will be a two day event to win a GOLD medal. Does this really warrant a place in the Olympics, especially if they change the format to align with the US Open?” questioned one.

“What do you mean 2 days for a category of professional tennis that is equal to all the other categories???,” another chimed in.

“So Coco (Gauff) will win a mixed doubles medal in the early stages of the singles tournament to give her the confidence she needs to medal in singles IKTR,” one fan joked.

“I mean, two days for the mixed doubles event at the Olympics, per the schedule released yesterday. Sounds like the medal will be as legit as the mixed doubles at the US Open,” added another.

“What is your problem with mixed doub- oh sorry I forgot that it will take place in america 🤡,” weighed in yet another fan.

Coco Gauff and Taylor Fritz represented Team USA in mixed doubles at Paris Olympics 2024; Americans finished as quarterfinalists

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff paired up to play mixed doubles for Team USA. Fritz and Gauff were the No. 3 seeds in the mixed doubles day, and they began their campaign in the Round of 16 against Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska and Maximo Gonzalez. Here, the Americans registered a 6-1, 6-7(6), [10-5] victory.

However, Fritz and Gauff’s campaign came to an end in the very next round; a narrow quarterfinal loss to Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime and Gabriela Dabrowski. Auger-Aliassime and Dabrowski themselves would go on to lose at the hands of eventual gold medalists Tomas Machac and Katerina Siniakova from Czechia in the semis.

At the 2025 US Open, Fritz is set to team up with Elena Rybakina. However, Gauff has confirmed her absence from the controversially revamped mixed doubles category at the hardcourt Major citing sponsor commitments.