Carlos Alcaraz-Emma Raducanu land top seeds in first round as US Open mixed doubles draw throws up blockbuster
Alcaraz and Raducanu, both former US Open singles champions, have generated huge hype around their pairing, even sparking media and fan speculation about a possible romance. They will face the top-seeded duo of Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper, who earned the No. 1 seeding based on the lowest combined singles rankings.
Jannik Sinner, the ATP world No. 1, has also found a new partner in 10-time women's doubles major champion Katerina Siniakova. He was earlier slated to team up with Emma Navarro, who withdrew to play the women's tournament in Monterrey, Mexico, next week. Sinner and Siniakova, who received one of the eight wild cards, will open against Alexander Zverev and Belinda Bencic.
Both Alcaraz and Sinner head into the mixed doubles after a gruelling week in Cincinnati. They are scheduled to meet in Monday's singles final before a quick turnaround to their openers in New York.
Iga Swiatek, despite also reaching the Cincinnati final after beating Elena Rybakina, will feature in the revamped US Open fixture alongside Casper Ruud. However, Jasmine Paolini, who was to partner fellow Italian Lorenzo Musetti, withdrew from the event.
Other notable pairings added on Sunday include two-time US Open women's champion Naomi Osaka with Gael Monfils, Karolina Muchova with Andrey Rublev, and Caty McNally with Lorenzo Musetti.
The event will comprise four rounds. The first two rounds will be played on Tuesday, with the semifinals and final scheduled for Wednesday night.
Other first-round matchups: Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic vs. Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev; No. 3 Swiatek and Ruud vs. Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe; Osaka and Monfils vs. McNally and Musetti; Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton vs. No. 4 Amanda Anisimova and Holger Rune; Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka vs. Muchova and Rublev; and No. 2 Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz vs. Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
24 minutes ago
- Indian Express
US Open: Carlos Alcaraz arrives in New York red-hot and ready to reclaim top ranking
Carlos Alcaraz heads to the U.S. Open in his now-familiar role as chief challenger to defending champion Jannik Sinner and the Spaniard will be driven this year by the twin pursuit of Grand Slam glory and the world number one ranking. The 22-year-old won a tour-leading sixth title of the season in Cincinnati on Monday after Sinner retired from the final with illness while trailing 0-5 in the opening set and the result has turned up the heat in the rankings race ahead of the season's final major. Health permitting, all signs point to the duo meeting again in a major final and completing a season-defining trilogy after Alcaraz beat Sinner in an epic five-setter to retain his French Open trophy in June before surrendering his Wimbledon crown to the top-ranked Italian last month. Although Alcaraz has excelled on grass and clay, hardcourt consistency has eluded him on the grandest stage following his 2022 U.S. Open triumph, but the five-times major champion is approaching the New York showpiece starting on Sunday with renewed belief. 'I'm feeling a lot of confidence, playing on a different surface,' said Alcaraz, whose U.S. Open triumph three years ago ensured that he became the youngest world number one since the inception of the ATP rankings in 1973. 'New York is a place that I love playing in. It's where I got my first Grand Slam and I appreciate the love and support that I receive there every year that I go.' Having won five of the last seven events he has played in, the red-hot Alcaraz can reclaim the top ranking at the end of the U.S. Open fortnight by outperforming Sinner, who will be defending 2,000 points as the champion. A shock second-round defeat by Dutch outsider Botic van de Zandschulp last year means Alcaraz will defend 50 points but the Spaniard is determined to avoid another early defeat in his bid to split the majors with Sinner for a second straight year. 'It was disappointing, the level that I played there,' Alcaraz said of his 2024 campaign. 'So this year, I really want to show good tennis, my best tennis, and try to go as far as I can, enjoy as much as I can the love there. We'll see how it's going to be.' The Cincinnati champion has gone on to capture the U.S. Open trophy in the previous two years, with Novak Djokovic prevailing in 2023 before Sinner's success last time, and a philosophical Alcaraz is hoping to keep that run going. 'I'm accepting everything that's happening to me and trying to learn to be a better person and player from the experiences that I'm living in the last three to four months,' he said on the Tennis Channel. 'I'm doing great things that I'm really proud of, so I'm going to try and do the same things in New York.'
New Indian Express
an hour ago
- New Indian Express
This must be our starting point: Coach Filippelli after Anantjeet's golden hit
CHENNAI: Skeet shooter Anantjeet Singh Naruka was locked on to the task at hand, gunning down clay pigeons at will in the late afternoon at the Shooting Plaza in Shymkent on Wednesday. With the gold in sight, the 27-year-old was a picture of determination as he inched closer and closer to his goal at the ongoing Asian Championships in Kazakhstan. There were some blips for the Indian with veteran Mansour Al-rashidi of Kuwait, his closest challenger, testing his will. Anantjeet had faced a somewhat similar challenge in the last edition and had narrowly missed out on the yellow metal. Despite Al-rashidi's pressure, the Jaipur shooter remained ice cool and flipped the script this time around to earn himself a gold medal, India's first in the senior category in the ongoing continental meet. Anantjeet was spot on from the word go and had just three misses in the 60-shot marathon final, finishing with a tally of 56. Al-rashidi was just one behind. Qatar's Al-Ishaq Ali Ahmed AO was the third-best in the six-man final. Foreign coach Riccardo Filippelli, who has been the force behind some of the top skeet shooters from the country, was closely following the final unfold. The Italian, a former champion shooter himself, is naturally stoked with this outcome. "The competition was very complicated because of the strong wind and terrible organization. Anantjeet had been receptive from the very beginning and did a camp in Italy before this competition," he told the The New Indian Express from Shymkent. "I can only say that he (Anantjeet) was fantastic in everything... had great preparation and had a great attitude. His performance in the final was impeccable. I'm proud of him because in addition to being a champion, he is an extraordinary guy. This must be our starting point." Anantjeet had returned with a tally of 119 in the qualification in the morning to qualify for the finals. Even though the skeet shooters have been playing second-fiddle to the rifle and pistol colleagues, Anantjeet's gold-medal outcome is not a massive surprise. Despite not making the finals in the World Cups earlier this year, Anantjeet has been a one of the competitive shooters from the shotgun category in the last few years or so. During the said phase, he has a World Cup final medal to his name and is also a Asian Games silver medallist. Even though Filippelli officially took charge of the national skeet team this year, he was no stranger to the Indians. He had helped Anantjeet secure the Paris Olympics ticket last year in the last edition of the championships. His association with veteran Mairaj Ahmad Khan (not part of this event) also goes a long way back and Maheshwari Chauhan, who finished fourth in the women's category, has also taken lessons from him before he joined the team officially. Filippelli's working ethos is to inculcate strong team spirit. "In the last few years, we have grown a lot, the guys are always with me and believe in my 'team' project because not being a team, I think it is difficult for us to win. We have a lot of talent in India and I have identified a few who I think will bring us many medals in the future," he noted. Technique aside, the coach wants his wards to embrace a winning mentality. "I believe deeply in technique but above all, (taking) the right approach and a winning mentality and only by working closely with my players, can I convey these values. Everyone must believe in our project — our federation and our Olympic committee." Senior pro Mairaj is not part of this event but had words of encouragement for his younger counterpart. "Winning gold is not easy and the Asian Championships is important for us. This is a sure sign that things are improving. We have a new coach and a young team. Winning at this age bodes well for him." The gold medal is certainly a good sign for Anantjeet and the rest of the shotgun unit. Bronze for Saurabh, Suruchi Saurabh Chaudhary and Suruchi Singh captured a bronze medal in the 10m air pistol mixed team competition. They shot a combined tally of 578 in the qualification stage before going on to beat Chinese Taipei's Liu Heng-Yu and Hsieh Hsiang-Chen 17-9 in the bronze-medal match.
Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
US Open: Swiatek finds the joy and the wins again
Mumbai: Iga Swiatek had not been herself for the first half of the year. The dominance with which she would conquer opponents and titles had suddenly been replaced by a player second-guessing her every move. Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud at mixed doubles match at the U.S. Open in New York. (AP) She was losing early in tournaments she had once won. Often stoic, she was letting her emotions show on court. And in one unfortunate incident at Indian Wells, she hit a ball into the stands in frustration, only for it to come dangerously close to a ball boy. Swiatek had not done what she was expected to do. But in July, on a surface she admitted she was least comfortable on, she did the unexpected. She won the Wimbledon Championships. Just when it seemed that the wheels were coming off, she plowed back into form. Last week, she picked up another title for the first time in her career, clinching the Cincinnati Masters. And now as the US Open beckons, the in-form six-time Grand Slam champion is a firm title contender. 'I guess it's true that the best things come to you when you expect them the least,' Swiatek posted on social media after winning in Cincinnati, her 24th singles title and 11th WTA 1000 level triumph. 'I'm super proud of the work we put (in) as a team to make this happen. Grinding no matter what, building resilience and patience. It's not always easy, doesn't come naturally. It's just constant and deliberate work and believing that anything is possible. I couldn't be happier.' The belief is back in her game, and that has taken her back up the ranking ladder - she was the eight seed at Wimbledon but is now the world No.2. But more importantly, within the unforgiving grind of professional sport, she finds herself being happy on court once again. 'I gotta say that I feel that these last couple of weeks were the best part of my season,' she said at the Wimbledon Champions Ball, days after her triumph in London. 'I really enjoyed myself on the court, even though I didn't expect that on grass. I just want to get back on court and have these feelings again.' This is in stark contrast to what she felt once the US Open ended last year. After her quarter-final finish in New York last season, she was informed that she had tested positive trimetazidine (or TMZ). Swiatek argued that the banned substance entered her system through the contaminated medication she had been using to deal with sleep issues and jet lag. The entire incident made her a controversial figure on tour, especially since Swiatek, a high-profile player, had been given only a one-month ban, which she completed in the off-season, leading to allegations of her receiving preferential treatment from tennis' governing bodies. In a social media post in March, Swiatek revealed that she had spent 'three weeks crying daily, and (not) wanting to step on the court' during that period last year. But now she has started to hit the right notes on court. At Wimbledon, she dropped only one set before going on to clinch the title with a stunning 6-0, 6-0 scoreline in the final against Amanda Anisimova. And on Monday in Cincinnati, where her best finish was in the semi-finals in 2023 and 2024, she won the title without dropping a set the entire tournament. The powerful forehand has become as destructive as before, the backhand is back in rhythm. And under coach Wim Fissette, who coached the likes of Kim Clijsters and Naomi Osaka to Grand Slam titles, Swiatek has become even more aggressive on her serve. As the biggest names in tennis descend upon the Billie Jean King Tennis Centre in Flushing Meadows, Swiatek, the champion in 2022, comes as a firm favourite.
