Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu, will face each other in the first round of the revamped US Open mixed doubles. The event has been moved to before the main tournament, on 19 and 20 August, with $1m (£750,000) in prize money at stake for the winners of the 16-pair event.
Draper will play with the American Jessica Pegula after their original partners, Paula Badosa and Tommy Paul, withdrew. With both inside the top five in the singles rankings, the pair have been handed the top seeding and will kick off their campaign against the wildcard pair of Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz.
The winners will face the 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic if they overcome Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev. Venus Williams, at the age of 45, and compatriot Reilly Opelka face Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev .
Meanwhile, the six-time Wimbledon doubles champion Gordon Reid says wheelchair tennis must keep proving its value to tournaments to help close the gap in prize money. Reid and his partner, Alfie Hewett, are preparing for the US Open, which last week announced a large increase in winnings.
Quick Guide
Edmund announces retirement
Show
The former British No 1 Kyle Edmund has announced his retirement from tennis at the age of 30.
Edmund won two ATP titles and became only the second British man after Sir Andy Murray to reach the semi-finals of the Australian Open in 2018. He was part of the Great Britain team that won the Davis Cup for the first time in 79 years, and also represented his country at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Unfortunately, Edmund’s ascent into the world’s top 50 corresponded with a knee injury that required three operations and kept him off the tour for almost two years.
In a statement issued by the Lawn Tennis Association, Edmund said: “The last five years have taken a toll with three surgeries and other injuries [and] my body is telling me it’s finally reached the end point. Looking back I can say I tried my absolute best in my career and my hardest to get back to where I was. There are no regrets whatsoever.”
Edmund, who defeated Novak Djokovic at the ATP Masters in 2018, made progress in his latest comeback attempt but decided the Nottingham Challenger final defeat against Jack Pinnington Jones last month would be his last match.
He said on social media: “Of course to beat Novak, probably the greatest player of all time, was a great feeling and probably the biggest scalp of my career. I spent four or five years trying to come back and was never fully able to reach my goal. But over the next few weeks and months it will be a nice time to reflect and spend more time with my family and appreciate the journey.” Pa Media
While the mixed doubles champions will now get $1m, the total pot for all wheelchair players is $1.69m. Reid and Hewett, who have won six titles at Flushing Meadows, with Hewett also winning four singles titles, have been a big driving force in the improvement in wheelchair tennis.
after newsletter promotion
“It’s been 20 years since we started, so in terms of the age of the slams themselves, we’re very fresh, very new,” Reid said. “As much as we want to see an increase and the gap in the prize money closing, we also need to prove we’re adding something, adding value to the tournament. Hopefully, those come hand in hand, the opportunities we get and the prize money.
