Jakub Mensik and Karolina Muchova had never played doubles together before this week
Karolina Muchova and Jakub Mensik saved two match points on their way to the US Open mixed doubles title and $1m in prize money.
Mensik hit a 131mph ace on a third championship point to seal a 6-3 1-6 10-6 win in the final against Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli.
That victory came after they saved match points in their semi-final against Andrey Rublev and Mirra Andreeva.
It is a first Grand Slam title for both players and comes just over six weeks after Muchova was beaten by compatriot Linda Noskova in the Wimbledon final.
The 30-year-old has been out of action since after undergoing a "small surgery".
Mensik, a semi-finalist at this year's French Open, had never played mixed doubles before, but his serve more than made up for his inexperience.
The pair had agreed to wear matching maroon outfits on court – once Muchova had explained to her 20-year-old team-mate what the colour was.
"It's not probably the main fact that we won the title, but that we had really great matches to play," Menik said.
"It's good we tried a lot of things on the court. It gives you a little bit of boost of confidence."
Both semi-finals were decided by a 10-point tie-break. Bencic and Cobolli won the first 10-5 against Elina Svitolina and Gael Monfils, denying them the opportunity to become the first married couple to win a Grand Slam mixed doubles title since 1939.
They will not have another chance, as Monfils is retiring at the end of the season.
Muchova and Mensik then held off French Open champion Andreeva and Rublev in the second semi-final to win 5-4 (8-6) 3-5 11-9.
All eight semi-finalists will be contesting the US Open singles main draw, which gets under way on Sunday.
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