BREAKING!!! mixed singles duo … practices (pics)

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FLUSHING MEADOWS, New York – Reilly Opelka and 45-year-old Venus Williams might not win this “reimagined” US Open mixed doubles crown.

But at least they prepped.

The pair, who are longtime friends, were out practicing on Arthur Ashe Stadium in Monday, working on volleys, playing points (against Opelka’s coach, the retired player Denis Kudla, and a young woman in a Princeton Tennis t-shirt) and doing volley-lob drills.

Here’s what that looked like.

Notably, there was a lot of chitchat in the locker room in Cincinnati – reported by our boots on the ground – about WHAT tennis ball they would use.

Historically, the women use the regular duty Wilson US Open ball, while the men use the extra duty.

(Except for that one year when the women used the extra duty and they all got sore).

Relatedly, they used the regular duty ball for the mixed.

It’s hard to fathom the star men who have agreed to this thing, agreeing to use a completely different ball.