The last major of the year—well, actually, the decade—is in the books. Doubles Take looks back at the action at the US Open.

POWER PLAYERS

At Wimbledon this year, Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah made history when they became the first Colombians to capture a men’s Grand Slam doubles title.

In New York, the duo added to its growing legacy.

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“Colombian Power” lived up to its billing as the top seeds as the team topped Horacio Zeballos and Marcel Granollers, the No. 8 seeds, in the final by a 6-4, 7-5 scoreline. Zeballos and Granollers were going for their second title in only two events played together as they triumphed in Canada a few weeks ago. However, Cabal and Farah wouldn’t be denied as they became the second team in two years to win both Wimbledon and the US Open after Jack Sock and Mike Bryan pulled off the feat in 2018.

HARD TO BEAT

Last year, Elise Mertens made it to the WTA Finals with last year’s standout doubles star Demi Schuurs. This year, though, the Belgian planned to cut back on the team play and focus on singles, the discipline in which she’s been as high as No. 12 in the world.

Mertens didn’t stay off the doubles court, however, playing with fellow Top-15 singles talent Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. The duo swept through Indian Wells and Miami—two of the biggest hard-court tournaments outside of the majors—earlier this year and have been among the best teams on tour during the season.

At the US Open, Mertens and Sabalenka showed they might actually be the best, especially when it comes to playing on a hard court.

Seeded fourth at the tournament, the Belgian-Belarusian duo defeated Sabalenka’s compatriot Victoria Azarenka and Australian Ashleigh Barty, 7-5, 7-5, in the final. Over the course of their six matches, Mertens and Sabalenka only dropped one set. It’s the first Grand Slam title for either player and lifted each of them to career highs in the doubles standings: No. 2 for Mertens and No. 6 for Sabalenka.

Not a bad two weeks for a couple of singles stars.

AN ENCORE PERFORMANCE

On the comeback trail last year after a devastating knee injury, Bethanie Mattek-Sands got back to her Grand Slam-winning ways by capturing the US Open mixed doubles crown with Jamie Murray.

The two knew exactly what to do for an encore.

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Murray and Mattek-Sands, who were granted  a wild card to this year’s tournament, beat the top seeds Michael Venus and Hao-Ching Chan in the final. If you had a number next to your names on the draw sheet, you were in trouble when facing the Scottish-American pair: The win against Venus and Chan was Murray and Mattek-Sands’ fourth in a row against a seeded team—marking the perfect way to cap off a tournament-winning run.

Follow Van on Twitter: @Van_Sias