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News.com.au
2 hours ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
$1m US Open revolution begins as glam pair knocked out in just 50 minutes
Iga Swiatek shrugged off lingering weariness to partner Casper Ruud to back-to-back victories in the revamped mixed doubles competition at the US Open on Tuesday. Swiatek -- who on Monday had battled through a two-hour tussle with Jasmine Paolini to win the Cincinnati Open -- looked full of energy as she and Ruud powered into Wednesday's semi-finals. Swiatek and Ruud needed just 39 minutes to dispatch the US pairing of Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe 4-1, 4-2 in their opening game at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and then reappeared roughly 20 minutes later to defeat Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti 5-3, 4-2 in their quarter-final clash. The victories capped a gruelling 24 hours for Polish star Swiatek, who hotfooted it to the airport after Monday's win in Cincinnati and only arrived at her hotel in New York in the early hours of Tuesday. 'Honestly the last two days have felt like one day, but I'm super happy to be here,' Swiatek said, adding that her tight turnaround had helped her unwind after her exertions in Cincinnati. 'Honestly I think actually it's kind of nice for the recovery,' Swiatek said. 'To have another task and to not let yourself be lazy but also focused on the next exciting thing.' Ruud and Swiatek had just enough time to fit in a quick practice before taking to the court in their first match as a doubles pairing. 'I was happy to team up with Iga,' Ruud said afterwards. 'She's on the winning train these days so I'm just jumping on the train and let's see if we can win some more before the mixed doubles is over. 'I think everyone should show some appreciation to Iga today. She only got to her hotel 12 hours ago at 2.30am, and she's here playing.' Swiatek and Ruud will meet top seeds Jessica Pegula of the United States and Britain's Jack Draper in Wednesday's semi-finals. Pegula and Draper clicked smoothly to eliminate the glamour pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu 4-2, 4-2 in just 50 minutes in the first round before easing past Russia's Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva 4-1, 4-1 in the quarter-finals. Medvedev and Andreeva had earlier romped past Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic in straight sets in the first round, winning 4-2, 5-3. In other results on Tuesday, US tennis icon Venus Williams and partner Reilly Opelka exited against Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev, losing 4-2, 5-4. Italy's reigning champions Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani ousted second seeds Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz 4-2, 4-2. Earlier Tuesday, world number one Jannik Sinner's withdrawal from the mixed doubles was confirmed as expected. Sinner, who retired due to illness in the first set of his Cincinnati Open final with Alcaraz on Monday, was due to partner Katerina Siniakova in the doubles. Sinner and Siniakova were replaced in the draw by the American duo of Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison. This year's US Open mixed doubles competition is being held over Tuesday and Wednesday in the week before the main singles draws get under way. The tournament is using a modified scoring system, with short sets to four games, no-advantage scoring, tiebreakers at four-all and a 10-point match tie-break in lieu of a third set. The final will be a best-of-three set match to six games, featuring no-advantage scoring, with tiebreakers at six-all and a 10-point match tie-breaker instead of a third set, with the winning pairing pocketing $1 million.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Alcaraz and Raducanu bulldozed by Draper and Pegula in revamped US Open mixed doubles
After many long months of discussion and anticipation, the doubles partnership between Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz came and went in the blink of an eye in front of a well‑populated Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. Despite ample smiles and enjoyment on the court, they were bulldozed in a battle of British No 1s by a sharp Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula, who reached the quarter-finals of the revamped mixed‑doubles competition with a 4-2, 4-2 win. In a draw filled with unusual partnerships, the first bracket of the mixed doubles draw was particularly striking. Draper and Raducanu are childhood friends and they have known each other since the days when they were rising up the national rankings in Britain while dreaming of becoming professional players. When the US Open announced its 'reimagined' mixed‑doubles competition in February, a partnership between them seemed like the most logical option. Instead, they found themselves against each other in the biggest tennis stadium in the world. Raducanu had played just three doubles tournaments in her entire career and the match started with a reminder of her lack of doubles prowess as she sprayed a backhand drive volley far wide. That first point set the tone for a difficult day on-court as she was continually vulnerable, particularly at the net. Draper and Alcaraz have similarly competed infrequently on the doubles court, but the British player was much sharper and determined to dominate. He played a great match, confidently closing down the net while punching holes in his opponents with his heavy topspin forehand. He showed his old friend Raducanu no mercy at all, successfully targeting her throughout. Having arrived in New York at 12.50am after his triumph at the Cincinnati Open on Monday afternoon, Alcaraz had every reason to feel uncomfortable. His own lack of experience in doubles was also evident as he was unable to take pressure off his struggling partner by imposing himself at the net. Even in defeat, the Spaniard still left with the best shot of the match. Early in the second set, Alcaraz chased down an angled forehand from Draper and flicked a spectacular forehand winner around the net post. Raducanu, who had actually given up on the point due to the quality of Draper's forehand, put her hands to her head and stared at her genius doubles partner in wonder. Perhaps the most significant result from this match was Draper's mere presence on the court. He has not competed since his second‑round defeat at Wimbledon last month after opting to withdraw from the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open with a left forearm injury. After his blistering start to the season, his year has cooled in recent months because of injury and a couple of difficult defeats at the French Open and Wimbledon. Here, he looked fit and ready to tackle the rest of the season. While the partnership between Raducanu and Alcaraz has dominated the headlines since it was announced, the pairing of Draper and Pegula took a while to form. Draper had signed up initially to compete alongside the Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen and then Paula Badosa, but both players withdrew from the US Open with significant injuries. Draper has inadvertently stumbled on to one of the best possible partners. In stark contrast to the three completely inexperienced doubles players around her, Pegula is one of the most accomplished players across both singles and doubles, the current singles No 4 and a former doubles No 1. Her solid baseline play and intelligence on the court provided Draper with the platform to thrive, and they will try to continue this great form. Alcaraz was not the only player with a rapid turnaround from the Cincinnati Open. Iga Swiatek did not finish her media duties until around 10pm and both she and Alcaraz were ferried from Cincinnati on a private jet. Just over 13 hours after finishing her work in Ohio, she was on-court training with her new doubles partner, Casper Ruud. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion No matter, Swiatek swept on to Arthur Ashe stadium and followed up her Cincinnati triumph with two clean wins to reach the quarter‑finals. The Pole has already put together a number of incredible performances in her occasional mixed‑doubles appearances at the United Cup and in a different state, court and format from her victory against Jasmine Paolini on Monday evening, she was excellent from the beginning alongside Ruud. Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the defending champions and the only doubles specialist team in the draw, marched through the rounds in pursuit of another title – and justice for the doubles specialists who have been squeezed out of the competition in order to accommodate the singles stars. From the first ball of their opening‑round match against the singles stars Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina, the Italian pairing were on a mission and they carried themselves like a team determined to represent all doubles players. Every point was played with manic intensity, especially from Errani, with their screams of 'allez' and 'vamos' directly punctuating almost every success. Most importantly, they played flawlessly, erecting a wall at the net and picking apart their inexperienced opponents as they eased to straight‑sets wins against Fritz and Elena Rybakina, then Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev.
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Alcaraz and Raducanu bulldozed by Draper and Pegula in revamped US Open mixed doubles
After many long months of discussion and anticipation, the doubles partnership between Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz came and went in the blink of an eye in front of a well‑populated Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd. Despite ample smiles and enjoyment on the court, they were bulldozed in a battle of British No 1s by a sharp Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula, who reached the quarter-finals of the revamped mixed‑doubles competition with a 4-2, 4-2 win. In a draw filled with unusual partnerships, the first bracket of the mixed doubles draw was particularly striking. Draper and Raducanu are childhood friends and they have known each other since the days when they were rising up the national rankings in Britain while dreaming of becoming professional players. When the US Open announced its 'reimagined' mixed‑doubles competition in February, a partnership between them seemed like the most logical option. Instead, they found themselves against each other in the biggest tennis stadium in the world. Raducanu had played just three doubles tournaments in her entire career and the match started with a reminder of her lack of doubles prowess as she sprayed a backhand drive volley far wide. That first point set the tone for a difficult day on-court as she was continually vulnerable, particularly at the net. Draper and Alcaraz have similarly competed infrequently on the doubles court, but the British player was much sharper and determined to dominate. He played a great match, confidently closing down the net while punching holes in his opponents with his heavy topspin forehand. He showed his old friend Raducanu no mercy at all, successfully targeting her throughout. Having arrived in New York at 12.50am after his triumph at the Cincinnati Open on Monday afternoon, Alcaraz had every reason to feel uncomfortable. His own lack of experience in doubles was also evident as he was unable to take pressure off his struggling partner by imposing himself at the net. Even in defeat, the Spaniard still left with the best shot of the match. Early in the second set, Alcaraz chased down an angled forehand from Draper and flicked a spectacular forehand winner around the net post. Raducanu, who had actually given up on the point due to the quality of Draper's forehand, put her hands to her head and stared at her genius doubles partner in wonder. Perhaps the most significant result from this match was Draper's mere presence on the court. He has not competed since his second‑round defeat at Wimbledon last month after opting to withdraw from the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open with a left forearm injury. After his blistering start to the season, his year has cooled in recent months because of injury and a couple of difficult defeats at the French Open and Wimbledon. Here, he looked fit and ready to tackle the rest of the season. While the partnership between Raducanu and Alcaraz has dominated the headlines since it was announced, the pairing of Draper and Pegula took a while to form. Draper had signed up initially to compete alongside the Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen and then Paula Badosa, but both players withdrew from the US Open with significant injuries. Draper has inadvertently stumbled on to one of the best possible partners. In stark contrast to the three completely inexperienced doubles players around her, Pegula is one of the most accomplished players across both singles and doubles, the current singles No 4 and a former doubles No 1. Her solid baseline play and intelligence on the court provided Draper with the platform to thrive, and they will try to continue this great form. Alcaraz was not the only player with a rapid turnaround from the Cincinnati Open. Iga Swiatek did not finish her media duties until around 10pm and both she and Alcaraz were ferried from Cincinnati on a private jet. Just over 13 hours after finishing her work in Ohio, she was on-court training with her new doubles partner, Casper Ruud. Sign up to The Recap The best of our sports journalism from the past seven days and a heads-up on the weekend's action after newsletter promotion No matter, Swiatek swept on to Arthur Ashe stadium and followed up her Cincinnati triumph with two clean wins to reach the quarter‑finals. The Pole has already put together a number of incredible performances in her occasional mixed‑doubles appearances at the United Cup and in a different state, court and format from her victory against Jasmine Paolini on Monday evening, she was excellent from the beginning alongside Ruud. Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the defending champions and the only doubles specialist team in the draw, marched through the rounds in pursuit of another title – and justice for the doubles specialists who have been squeezed out of the competition in order to accommodate the singles stars. From the first ball of their opening‑round match against the singles stars Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina, the Italian pairing were on a mission and they carried themselves like a team determined to represent all doubles players. Every point was played with manic intensity, especially from Errani, with their screams of 'allez' and 'vamos' directly punctuating almost every success. Most importantly, they played flawlessly, erecting a wall at the net and picking apart their inexperienced opponents as they eased to straight‑sets wins against Fritz and Elena Rybakina, then Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev.
The Independent
4 hours ago
- Sport
- The Independent
Top seeds Draper and Pegula see off all-star Raducanu-Alcaraz pairing on day one of US Open mixed doubles
Despite the on-court chemistry between Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz, the pair could not hold off top seeds Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula on an entertaining first day of the US Open mixed doubles event. The pair of former US Open champions received a huge cheer from the busy Arthur Ashe Stadium as they walked out, and smiled and joked their way through their first-round encounter at the revamped and divisive mixed event. But Draper and Pegula proved too strong, winning 4-2, 4-2 after breaking early in both sets in the truncated format. Raducanu withstood a barrage of pressure on serve at 3-2 in the second set, falling 15-40 down before whipping in two fine serves, before taking the game on the deciding point. The match improved in quality as the brand-new pairings settled in, but it was Draper and Pegula who formed a smoother partnership. The Brit in particular was imperious on serve and moved superbly around the court, sealing the match with a down-the-line forehand winner. The top seeds will face the winners of the final round-of-16 match, between Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic vs Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev. The new-look event has been controversial since its inception, with doubles players including defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori - the only established mixed doubles pair in the draw - voicing a sense of injustice at how the specialists were excluded in favour of singles stars. But the opening round of matches seemed well-received by the New York crowd. Spectators flocked to the two show courts, Arthur Ashe and Louis Armstrong, in their droves, and loudly backed home favourites including Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka. And some pairings - despite the lack of preparation time - managed to quickly gel on court. Lorenzo Musetti and Caty McNally, the latter a late replacement for Cincinnati finalist Jasmine Paolini, overcame Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils, winning 5-3, 4-2. Two-time grand slam doubles finalist McNally only got the call-up to play on Sunday evening but the pair looked a real force together. Karolina Muchova 's deftness and court craft combined brilliantly with Andrey Rublev 's firepower as they dumped out Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka, winning 4-2, 5-4 in their opener, and third seeds Iga Swiatek - less than 24 hours on from her triumph in Cincinnati - and Casper Ruud required just 39 minutes to see off Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe 4-2, 4-1. The third seeds then beat McNally and Musetti to become the first team into the last four. But the specialists showed everyone how it was done: defending champions Errani and Vavassori took 40 minutes to dispatch second seeds Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz, winning 4-2, 4-2. 'We were playing for the doubles teams who could not be here,' Vavassori said afterwards. They then overwhelmed a spirited challenge from the improving team of Muchova and Rublev to book their place in the semi-finals, winning 4-1, 5-4(7-4), with shouts of 'forza!' indicating just how important this was to the pair. Later in the day women's doubles No 1 Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton saw off the fourth seeds Amanda Anisimova and Holger Rune 4-2, 5-4(7-2). The remaining quarter-finals will be played later on Tuesday, with the semi-finals and final to follow on Wednesday night.
France 24
5 hours ago
- Sport
- France 24
Weary Swiatek wins US Open mixed doubles opener
Swiatek -- who on Monday had battled through a two-hour tussle with Jasmine Paolini to win the Cincinnati Open -- looked full of energy as she and Ruud powered into Wednesday's semi-finals. Swiatek and Ruud needed just 39 minutes to dispatch the US pairing of Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe 4-1, 4-2 in their opening game at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and then reappeared roughly 20 minutes later to defeat Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti 5-3, 4-2 in their quarter-final clash. The victories capped a gruelling 24 hours for Polish star Swiatek, who hot-footed it to the airport after Monday's win in Cincinnati and only arrived at her hotel in New York in the early hours of Tuesday. "Honestly the last two days have felt like one day, but I'm super happy to be here," Swiatek said. Ruud and Swiatek had just enough time to fit in a quick practice before taking to the court in their first match as a doubles pairing. "I was happy to team up with Iga," Ruud said afterwards. "She's on the winning train these days so I'm just jumping on the train and let's see if we can win some more before the mixed doubles is over. "I was super happy to team up with Iga -- I think everyone should show some appreciation to Iga today. She only got to her hotel 12 hours ago at 2.30am, and she's here playing." McNally and Musetti had progressed to the last eight earlier Tuesday after taking care of Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils 5-3, 4-2. In other early results on Tuesday, US tennis icon Venus Williams and partner Reilly Opelka exited against Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev, losing 4-2, 5-4. Italy's reigning champions Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani ousted second seeds Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz 4-2, 4-2. Earlier Tuesday, world number one Jannik Sinner's withdrawal from the mixed doubles was confirmed as expected. Sinner, who retired due to illness in the first set of his Cincinnati Open final with Carlos Alcaraz on Monday, was due to partner Katerina Siniakova in the doubles. Sinner and Siniakova were replaced in the draw by the American duo of Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison. This year's US Open mixed doubles competition is being held over Tuesday and Wednesday in the week before the main singles draws get under way. The tournament is using a modified scoring system, with short sets to four games, no-advantage scoring, tiebreakers at four-all and a 10-point match tiebreak in lieu of a third set. The final will be a best-of-three set match to six games, featuring no-advantage scoring, with tiebreakers at six-all and a 10-point match tiebreaker instead of a third set, with the winning pairing pocketing $1 million.
