The much-hyped pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu was bounced in the first round of the new U.S. Open mixed doubles event on Tuesday.
Alcaraz, the No. 2 men’s player in the world, and Raducanu, the 35th-ranked women’s player, are both former U.S. Open singles champions. Yet they lost 4-2, 4-2 against the top-seeded team of Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula in a match that lasted less than one hour.
The mixed-doubles event has drawn criticism this year for a new format that prioritizes singles stars over teams that specialize in doubles play.
Instead of a 32-team field, there were only 16 teams in the tournament this year. Half the field was determined by players’ singles rankings, while the remaining eight teams were selected by the U.S. Tennis Association.
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The prize money is also significantly higher, with the winners taking home $1 million compared to only $200,000 last year. The gameplay and timing of the tournament were also changed, with sets being played to only four games, and the two-day event taking place before the singles as something of a tune-up.
“It would be like if, at the Olympics, they didn’t let the actual high jumpers participate, and instead had basketball players compete in the high jump because it’s more ‘interesting,” Sara Errani, who won the doubles event with Andrea Vavassori last year, told the Associated Press earlier this week. “If you want to do that, I guess you can, but you can’t award them medals. You can’t have a Grand Slam doubles (trophy) and not let doubles players take part. … You’re excluding them from their sport. It’s dishonest.”
British player Joe Salisbury told the AP the decision to include singles stars “does bring a bit more attention to it.”
“But I’m not sure it’s good for the doubles event, because it’s not really a proper event. It’s just a two-day exhibition.”
The mixed-doubled tournament will conclude on Wednesday.
The singles draw of the U.S. Open will begin on Aug. 24.
