Carlos Alcaraz has claimed that US Open doubles teammate Emma Raducanu will ‘be the boss’ during their partnership.
The pairing made headlines in June as two of the sport’s biggest names will join forces in America.
The brand new event features some interesting dynamics of top singles talent, including Jannik Sinner and Emma Navarro, Aryna Sabalenka and Grigor Dimitrov, and Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios.
Many partnerships invite questions of how the duos will work together. Alcaraz, a five-time major winner, seems to be planning to take a back seat to Raducanu in June.
Carlos Alcaraz claims Emma Raducanu is in charge of doubles pairing, ‘she will be the boss’
Following the announcement of their pairing, Alcaraz and Raducanu have been getting well accustomed to each other. Raducanu watched Alcaraz win Queen’s, and they were both pictured together in a pre-tournament photoshoot with Evian.
They have both been the subject of intense media interest, and in an interview with BBC Sport, the British number one was invited to ask Alcaraz any question she wanted. She laughed, “I would like to know how much of the court he can cover in New York?!”
Laughing in response, Alcaraz graciously said, “I’m just going to serve, and I’m going to pull myself away. I let her play!” He continued, “She will be the boss, and I will do whatever she wants me to do.”
The duo should be a formidable pair come the US Open.
Alcaraz and Raducanu navigated their opening round matches at Wimbledon, admittedly Raducanu getting it done in more convincing fashion than her future teammate after Alcaraz went five sets with Fabio Fognini.
Raducanu reclaimed her status as British number one, and world number two Alcaraz is trying for his third straight Wimbledon title.
They could be the in-form team heading stateside.
US Open mixed doubles draws controversy among tennis fans
The US Open’s new mixed doubles tournament has sparked controversy amongst tennis fans. It has been criticised as a gimmick by some transitionalists and praised as an innovative way of drawing fresh eyes by others.
Its aim is to bring the sport’s biggest names together as a selling point for doubles tennis. It’s effectively “fantasy tennis”, something to satisfy those thoughts of “what if [player] were to play with [player]”.
The field consists of 16 teams, with eight teams gaining direct entry based on their combined singles ranking. Players don’t have to earn a spot on the doubles tour.
The remaining eight teams are granted wild cards, therefore, presumably, some doubles specialists such as last year’s winners Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori will make the competition.
With a $1 million prize for winning the tournament, there’s a real incentive for going for it.
The event has been judged as gimmicky, largely due to the competition rules. In the rounds leading to the final, sets will be played up to four games instead of the traditional six, and there is no advantage scoring. At deuce, the next point wins.
The Final returns to traditional length sets, but there is still no advantage scoring.
Whatever you think of the event, with the sport’s biggest stars combining forces, the viewing numbers will speak for themselves.