New York, Aug 21: Fan favourite mixed doubles pair, Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, crashed out of the US Open on Tuesday, August 19. Playing the first round of the competition against top-seeded Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula, the duo lost in straight sets 2-4, 2-4, in just 51 minutes.Pegula and Draper, in complete synchronization, tore apart Alcaraz and Raducanu with their exceptional play at the net.
Raducanu and Alcaraz were taking part in the mixed doubles competition at the US Open as part of the new format called the Fan Week. The competition has 16 teams playing four-game sets, with the organisers hoping to gain some eyeballs in the mixed team format.
Things turned out poorly for the duo as Raducanu lost serve in the first game, which ended up having a domino effect in the whole match. There was a spark in Raducanu’s game for a brief period of time when she saved three match points, but eventually Draper got the better of her.
Alcaraz and Raducanu were not the only ones to bow out of the tournament. Apart from them, Mirra Andreeva/Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev/Belinda Bencic and the Serbian duo of Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic were also knocked out of the tournament.
The semi-finals of the tournament will be played between Draper/Pegula and Iga Swiatek/Casper Ruud and Danielle Collins/Christian Harrison and Sara Errani/Andrea Vavassori.