This wasn’t just a victory for Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori. Their US Open mixed doubles title also felt like a victory for all doubles tennis players.

Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori retained their US Open mixed doubles title on Wednesday (Thursday in Manila), beating Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud to claim the $1 million top prize in the new-look competition that kicked off action at the last Grand Slam of the year.

The second semifinal between defending champions Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori and the all-American, last-minute alternate pairing of Danielle Collins/Christian Harrison is underway, as they bid to join Świątek/Ruud in the mixed doubles finale.