Emma Raducanu’s blockbuster partnership with Carlos Alcaraz lasted just 51 minutes as they suffered defeat in the first round of the new US Open mixed doubles tournament. It was a battle of the British No. 1s as Raducanu and Alcaraz took on top seeds Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula – and Draper came out on top.
The world No. 5 was playing his first match since Wimbledon after an arm injury forced him to miss the Masters 1000 tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati. Alongside ex-doubles No. 1 Pegula, he sealed a 4-2 4-2 victory against the former US Open singles champions and said: “I’ve got a pretty good partner.”
There was plenty of hype surrounding Raducanu’s link-up with Alcaraz. The former US Open singles champions signed up for the revamped mixed doubles event when it was first announced, and their names appeared on a provisional entry list back in June.
Excitement has been building ever since. However, given the quick turnaround after the Cincinnati Open, there were fears that Alcaraz could withdraw.
The final was played on a Monday, and he lifted the trophy after Jannik Sinner retired with illness just 23 minutes into the match. But the world No. 2 confirmed he was still intending to play with Raducanu and jetted straight to New York, landing around 1am local time.
He took to the court roughly 14 hours later but got off to a poor start, getting broken in his opening service game.
Alcaraz stepped it up in the second set, sending the crowd wild when he hit an incredible winner around the net post. Raducanu was stunned, putting her hands on her head as she turned to face her partner and grinned.
But Draper and Pegula took advantage of the fast-four scoring format, and one break in each set was enough to get the win.
After bringing an early end to the ‘Raducaraz’ partnership, the British No. 1 told the crowd: “What an experience playing out here with Jessica, playing against Emma and Carlos. It doesn’t get any better than this, so it’s just a pleasure to be out here.”
Draper had been forced to scramble and find a new teammate when his first two partners, Qinwen Zheng and Paula Badosa, withdrew from the US Open with injuries.
But he ended up with an experienced confidant in Pegula, a former doubles No. 1 who lifted seven titles, most of which came with Coco Gauff.
Currently ranked No. 4 in singles, Pegula has played fewer doubles tournaments in the past year but was still the most experienced player on the court.
“The stadium has been packed so thanks everyone for showing up, that was such a fun atmosphere. Even if meant a couple of highlight reel shots from Carlosto get the crowd going, it was still really fun,” she said after they reached the quarter-finals.
“I’ve played doubles a lot, I haven’t played that much recently so it’s always kind of tricky, especially going into a mixed format and playing against other people that don’t play a lot of doubles. But it was a lot of fun, Jack played great, we’re excited to be back soon.”
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