Fears grow over Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz partnership after US Open change

There are concerns that Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu could become the latest pair to withdraw from playing mixed doubles at the US Open. The Grand Slam has changed the format of the event this year to encourage high profile entrants, but a few teams have already pulled out.

The United States Tennis Association has brought in a new two-day format that will take place the week before the singles draw and see the winners bank $1million. Organisers will give eight entrants a place in the tournament based on their combined singles rankings, with eight others granted wildcards.

The revamped format attracted some eye-catching pairings, including world No.1s Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka, who are playing with Emma Navarro and Grigor Dimitrov respectively. Meanwhile, Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek is down to play with Casper Ruud and Novak Djokovic with Olga Danilovic.

However, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa have withdrawn amid rumours of a split in their relationship, while Jack Draper and Zheng Qinwen have also pulled out of the event which will take place on August 19-20.

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The Sun now reports that Alcaraz and Raducanu could follow suit so they can fully focus on the singles at Flushing Meadows.

Raducanu famously ditched Andy Murray at Wimbledon in 2024 for the same reason – and the pairing are likely relying on a wildcard to compete anyway, given Raducanu’s singles ranking of 46th in the world might not be high enough to qualify automatically.

Their withdrawal is also made more likely by the fact that Alcaraz has just skipped the Canadian Open to manage a niggle following his defeat in the final at Wimbledon. "I have small muscle issues and I need to recover physically and mentally for what comes next,” he wrote.

It would be a shame, given the excitement around the pairing, which Alcaraz announced during Queen’s. “She took a while,” he said of Raducanu’s response to his proposition of the pairing. “No, not that much…But obviously she had to ask, and she had to think a little bit. But it wasn’t immediate, so…”

Asked about the delay in making a decision, Raducanu then joked: "Gotta keep ’em on their toes. I mean, of course, I had to ask my team if they wanted me to play.

"But for me, when he asked me, I was going to say yes, I just had to kind of go through the formality of asking my coach, so I didn’t just make the decision."

Alcaraz added: “She's going to be the boss. The US Open came to us and gave us the opportunity to play mixed doubles. I'm super excited about it, it's going to be great, it was an amazing idea from the tournament."

"I've known Emma since a long time ago – I have a really good relationship with her so it's going to be interesting. We are going to enjoy for sure, I'll try to put my doubles skills on and we'll try to win.”