US Open mixed doubles: Jack Draper, Jessica Pegula beat Emma Raducanu, Carlos Alcaraz in first round
Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula beat Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz in straight sets before going on to book semi-final berth; watch mixed doubles semi-finals and final from midnight on Thursday live on Sky Sports Tennis, before the US Open singles begin on Sunday
Wednesday 20 August 2025 15:32, UK
Jack Draper won the battle of the British No 1s as he and playing partner Jessica Pegula beat Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz in the first round of the US Open's revamped, star-studded mixed doubles competition.
Draper and Pegula then went on to beat Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals to advance to Wednesday night's semi-finals in New York, where they will play Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud.
Draper and Pegula are due to be on court from 12am on Thursday (BST), live on Sky Sports Tennis.
Offering a $1m prize to the winners, a shorter set format and being played across two days ahead of the start of the main singles draw from Sunday, the new-look event has attracted a host of the world's top-ranked players, with Tuesday's action seeing the first round and quarter-finals take place.
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Draper and Pegula are the event's No 1 seeds thanks to their respective fifth and fourth-placed rankings on the ATP and WTA Tours and delivered an impressive display at Arthur Ashe Stadium to beat former US Open champions Raducanu and Alcaraz 4-2 4-2.
The pair immediately broke Alcaraz's serve in the first game of the match to gain an early advantage, with the rest of the set following serve.
Pegula and Draper then claimed a decisive second break of the Spaniard's serve in the third game of the second set.
Speaking in his on-court interview after the match, Draper said: "What an experience out here playing with Jessica against Emma and Carlos.
"It doesn't get any better than this, so it's just a pleasure to be out here playing against them and with such a great player."
Despite their defeat, Raducanu and Alcaraz - who had been dubbed 'Raducaraz' ahead of the match - appeared to be in high spirits throughout the contest with the pair also receiving plenty of support from the large crowd watching on at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Alcaraz had been on court just 24 hours beforehand for the final of the Cincinnati Open against Jannik Sinner, who retired from that match due to illness in the first set.
As expected, Sinner pulled out of his own scheduled appearance in Tuesday's mixed doubles as a result, with the men's world No 1 having been due to play alongside 11-time Grand Slam doubles champion Katerina Siniakova.
Their place place in the draw was taken by American duo Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison, who made the most of their unexpected chance by storming through their two matches to set up a semi-final against the defending mixed doubles champions, Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori.
Djokovic, Osaka among past champions to exit early
Raducanu and Alcaraz were not the only former Flushing Meadows champions to fall early on in the star-studded draw.
Playing alongside fellow Serb Olga Danilovic, four-time men's champion Novak Djokovic lost 4-2 5-3 to Andreeva and Medvedev in round one, while two-time women's champion Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils were beaten 5-3 4-2 by Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti.
Double singles champion Venus Williams, who at 45 has been given a wild card for the main draw, also exited in the first round.
2021 champion Medvedev then exited in the quarter-finals at the hands of Draper and Pegula.
Tuesday's US Open mixed doubles results
First Round
Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti bt Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils 5-3 4-2
(3) Iga Swiatek and (3) Casper Ruud bt Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe 4-1 4-2
(1) Jessica Pegula and (1) Jack Draper bt Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz 4-2 4-2
Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev bt Olga Danilovic and Novak Djokovic 4-2 5-3
Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori bt (2) Elena Rybakina and (2) Taylor Fritz 4-2 4-2
Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev bt Venus Williams and Reilly Opelka 4-2 5-4 (7-4)
Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton bt Amanda Anisimova and Holger Rune 4-2 5-4 (7-2)
Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison bt Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev 4-0 5-3
Quarter-finals
(3) Iga Swiatek and (3) Casper Ruud bt Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti 4-1 4-2
(1) Jessica Pegula and (1) Jack Draper bt Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev 4-1 4-1
Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori by Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev 4-1 5-4 (7-4)
Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison bt Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton 4-1 5-4 (7-2)
Three Brits through, four out in US Open Qualifying
Fran Jones, Harriet Dart and Oliver Crawford all advanced in qualifying for the US Open on Tuesday but Jack Pinnington Jones lost out in an epic scrap as four Britons packed their bags.
Jones, the top seed in qualifying, eased past Viktoria Hruncakova 6-3 6-4 as she looks to reach the main draw at Flushing Meadows for the first time.
But it was a much harder slog for Dart as she beat Anca Todoni 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 7-6 (10-6).
Crawford, the British No 10 who made his Grand Slam singles debut at Wimbledon as a wild card this year, advanced with a 5-7 6-4 6-4 win over Australia's Alex Bolt.
Pinnington Jones, who reached the second round at Wimbledon, let three match points slip as he came out on the wrong end of a 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (14-12) scoreline against Kazakhstan's Beibit Zhukayev.
Heather Watson, George Loffhagen and Jan Choinski were also beaten in the first round on Tuesday.
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