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The much-hyped pairing of Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu was bounced within the first spherical of the brand new U.S. Open blended doubles occasion on Tuesday.
Alcaraz, the No. 2 males’s participant on the planet, and Raducanu, the Thirty fifth-ranked girls’s participant, are each former U.S. Open singles champions. But they misplaced 4-2, 4-2 towards the top-seeded staff of Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula in a match that lasted lower than one hour.
The mixed-doubles occasion has drawn criticism this yr for a brand new format that prioritizes singles stars over groups specializing in doubles play.
As a substitute of a 32-team discipline, there have been solely 16 groups within the match this yr. Half the sphere was decided by gamers’ singles rankings, whereas the remaining eight groups had been chosen by the U.S. Tennis Affiliation.
The prize cash can also be considerably greater, with the winners taking residence $1 million in comparison with solely $200,000 final yr. The gameplay and timing of the match had been additionally modified, with units being performed to solely 4 video games, and the two-day occasion going down earlier than the singles as one thing of a tune-up.
“It will be like if, on the Olympics, they didn’t let the precise excessive jumpers take part, and as a substitute had basketball gamers compete within the excessive bounce as a result of it’s extra ‘fascinating,” Sara Errani, who received the doubles occasion with Andrea Vavassori final yr, advised the Related Press earlier this week. “If you wish to do this, I suppose you’ll be able to, however you’ll be able to’t award them medals. You’ll be able to’t have a Grand Slam doubles (trophy) and never let doubles gamers participate. … You’re excluding them from their sport. It’s dishonest.”
British participant Joe Salisbury advised the AP the choice to incorporate singles stars “does carry a bit extra consideration to it.”
“However I’m unsure it’s good for the doubles occasion, as a result of it’s not likely a correct occasion. It’s only a two-day exhibition.”
The mixed-doubled match will conclude on Wednesday.
The singles draw of the U.S. Open will start on Aug. 24.
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