Desirae Krawczyk, an American player of Filipino descent, shared the US Open podium over the weekend after teaming up with British partner Joe Salisbury for the Mixed Doubles title.
The second-seeded Krawczyk and Salisbury bested Mexico’s Giuliana Olmos and El Salvador’s Marcelo Arevalo, 7-5, 6-2, for the crown.
The pair only dropped two sets throughout the tournament, opening their Grand Slam bid with a 5-7, 6-3, 10-8 win over Americans Mitchell Krueger and Jamie Loeb before following up with a 7-6 (1), 7-5 victory over Slovakian Filip Polasek and Swiss Belinda Benic.
Krawczyk and Salisbury continued their quest with a 6-1, 1-6, 10-7 triumph over eighth seed Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands and Sander Gille of Belgium in the quarterfinals then edged Americans Jessica Pegula and Austin Krajicek, 7-6 (2), 6-4, for a spot in the final.
The rest, they say, was history.
This was Krawczyk’s third Grand Slam Mixed Doubles title and second with Salisbury after winning the 2021 French Open. Her other title came at the 2021 Wimbledon with British partner Neal Skupski.
Born in the United States to a Polish father and a Filipina mother who hails from Cagayan, the 27-year-old Krawczyk once saw action in the country when she competed as a 16-year-old in the Philippine Columbian Association Open in 2010.
She eventually won the women’s singles title at the expense of Christine Patrimonio.
Eleven years later, the Arizona State University alumna is taking one of the biggest podiums in the sport.