John McEnroe approaches US Open star in locker room after controversial tournament

Andrea Vavassori has revealed that he was approached by John McEnroe after defending his US Open mixed doubles title with Sara Errani. Tournament organisers announced huge overhauls to the mixed competition this year - it took place a week before the US Open began, used a shorter scoring format, and allowed just 16 teams to enter, most of whom were made up of singles players.

The changes proved controversial. Vavassori and Errani - who ended up being the only doubles specialist team in the draw - accused bosses of a "profound injustice" in a lengthy statement, and spent the entire two-day event saying they were competing on behalf of the other doubles stars.

In the end, the Italian duo proved that experience triumphs entertainment, as they beat Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud in Wednesday night's final to retain their trophy.

The doubles stars won over plenty of fans during the tournament, be it for their clever shot-making or for the message they wanted to send, and McEnroe was one of them.

The retired tennis icon reached No. 1 in the world in both singles and doubles and won seven Grand Slam singles titles and nine in doubles. And he was delighted to see Vavassori and Errani take a stand and emerge victorious.

After their successful title defence, Vavassori said: "Yeah, I think tonight was amazing. The atmosphere was crazy. The last match was unbelievable also the level. I think so many good points, so many highlights.

"I think these two days will be really important for doubles in the future because we show that doubles players are great players. I think this product can grow in the future. There were so many legends in the past that played doubles.

"I was speaking with John McEnroe in the locker room. He said to me for me was really important for him to come to me and say, 'You're doing something good for doubles'.

"So I think it will be really important in the future to know that it's a product that can grow. With better marketing can become something better."

The wildcard pair had plenty of pressure on their shoulders during the four-match, two-day competition, hoping to prove that doubles still had its own place in the sport, and that more specialists should have had the opportunity to play in Flushing Meadows.

"We're also playing for all the doubles players that could not compete here, so we tried to do our best," Vavassori told the crowd after their first match.

And Errani echoed his sentiment after they beat Swiatek and Ruud 6-3 5-7 [10-6] in the final. "I think this one is for all the doubles players that couldn't play this tournament. I think this one is also for them," she said in her victory speech.

Their fight has certainly caught McEnroe's attention, while plenty of doubles stars have backed their colleagues. Wimbledon champion and world No. 2 Julian Cash shared their triumph on his Instagram story.

And former world No. 1 and six-time doubles Major winner Rajeev Ram joked: "Full credit to #Errani and #Vavassori. I'm sure it wasn't easy to be the overwhelming favourites in this event and then get the job done. Forza!"

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