Jack Draper laughs off snub as Emma Raducanu picks Carlos Alcaraz for US Open
Asked if the two current British number ones could have got together instead, Draper said: 'A wise person once told me you should find the best partner – and that's what she did. I don't blame her at all for that.
A STAR-STUDDED 🤩 lineup of teams have officially entered the reimagined US Open Mixed Doubles Championship!
More info: https://t.co/bIMJGbf3qI pic.twitter.com/Hw1yA87pgj
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) June 17, 2025
'He's obviously the best player in the world probably right now, along with (Jannik) Sinner. Great at doubles, as well. She's gone about and chose the best partner, for sure. Hopefully they do well.'
Draper, currently world number six, has linked up with Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng of China.
'I think it's a good format for the players to get prepared for the US Open, having a shot at playing with another top player,' he added.
'Qinwen I know from the Tour. I have seen her around. Obviously a great player herself and has a really good game.
'It will be fun to get out there and play with her and see how we get on. It was me who messaged. It was nice to get that together and let's see how we get on.'
Alcaraz, who joined Draper in the second round at Queen's Club on Tuesday, said: 'She's gonna be the boss!
'I'm super excited about it. I think it's going to be great. It was an amazing idea for the tournament.
'I've known Emma since a really long time ago, so we know each other. I have a really good relationship with her. We are going to enjoy it, for sure.
'I will try to bring my doubles skill. We will try to win. But obviously it's going to be really, really fun.'
It was announced earlier this year that the US Open mixed doubles event will be played over two days in the week before the main tournament.
It was an attempt to attract more high-profile players, and it has certainly worked.
As well as 'AlcaRad', Sinner will play with American Emma Navarro while other pairs include women's world number one Aryna Sabalenka and Grigor Dimitrov, Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios, Novak Djokovic and fellow Serbian Olga Danilovic and off-court partners Paula Badosa and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The event will take place on August 19 and 20, with the winners scooping a prize pot of one million US dollars (approximately £750,000).
Not all the pairs announced on Tuesday might make the cut, with entries open until July 28.
The top eight teams with the best combined singles ranking – which currently would not include Raducanu and Alcaraz – will qualify directly, with eight further teams given wildcard spots.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
14 minutes ago
- The Independent
The rare career of Josh Taylor showed the privileged burden that boxing can bring
It is not going to be easy for Josh Taylor to walk off into the boxing sunset after a remarkable career inside the ropes. It was also a brutally short career, a rare career in British boxing; it was unusual because of the speed, the relentless hard matchmaking and the success. Taylor, who is now 34, is the only British boxer to have held all four of the accepted and respected belts in the modern era of a sport packed with division and false claims. In a business where men – it is different for the women – often have 20 or more fights before finally getting a chance at a world title, Taylor held a version of the world title after just 15 fights. He had been a professional for less than four years at that time. In British boxing history, the world champions have been seasoned by years of learning their trade and being used as part of a bargaining system by promoters and managers. Taylor broke with tradition, altered the expected path of boxers and in just his 18th fight, he held all four of the belts. He was Josh Taylor, undisputed champion. World champions like John Conteh in the Seventies, Alan Minter in the Eighties, and Lennox Lewis in the Nineties served typically extended apprenticeships, featuring for long spells on undercards and waiting for an opening, waiting for a chance. Conteh won his world title in his 27th fight, Minter his 43rd fight, and Lewis in his just his 23rd. Lewis had the benefit of two Olympics as experience, including the gold in Seoul, but still danced slowly down the well-trodden and careful path. It was a path that Taylor seemed to reject; he was ready to be fast-tracked by the time he became a professional boxer. Taylor had two Commonwealth Games medals and had been to the Olympics in 2012 when he finally turned professional in 2015. He had stayed after the London Olympics to compete and win a gold at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. He was the unofficial mascot for the Games, used in adverts, and his face was plastered all over Glasgow and Edinburgh. It was a privileged burden and one he comfortably repaid. He had hard fights early on, winning the Commonwealth professional title in just his seventh fight when he stopped Dave Ryan, a noted hard man, in the fifth round in front of a devoted flock in Edinburgh. The real fights were getting closer for Taylor. The bigger wins followed: unbeaten Ohara Davies ruined in seven in 2017, former world champion Viktor Postol given a boxing lesson in 2018, and the unbeaten and dangerous Ryan Martin stopped in seven. All three fights were in Glasgow; Scotland had a boxing hero. Postol had just lost to the great Terrence Crawford – Taylor possibly did a better job. This was not a hype gravy train. In 2019, also in Glasgow, Taylor met the IBF light-welterweight champion, Ivan Baranchyk, who was 19-0 with 12 knockouts; Taylor won on points, he had his first world title, but the boxing world was about to shrink. The run continued, the darkness of Covid was coming. Taylor fought six unbeaten men in a stunning consecutive sequence, including five in world title fights; he unified the titles, fighting in front of a sold-out O2 in London when he beat the fancied Regis Prograis in late 2019. Prograis was the WBA champion. It was a stunning fight, contender for Fight of the Year. Prograis was shell-shocked at the end – it should have been the fight that transformed Taylor, made him a star, but his next fight was nearly a year later and behind closed doors at York Hall in front of less than 50 people; Covid hit hard and few in boxing suffered more from the fallout than Taylor. It robbed him of momentum and a chance to win all four belts in front of an outdoor crowd in Scotland. That is the harsh reality. Taylor travelled under too many radars during this exceptional sequence because of the Covid restrictions. It was a cruel twist, a twist as cruel as the eye injury that forced him after just 23 fights to walk away last week. 'I have certainly not had the best of luck,' he said, and he is right. He won his first world title in May of 2019 and lost the last of the four belts he owned in June of 2023; he fought just four times in the middle during a four-year spell when, under different circumstances, he could have become a major star. In 2021, he went to Las Vegas to fight Jose Ramirez; all four of the recognised belts and the Ring magazine belt were on the line; Ramirez was unbeaten in 26, but he was dropped twice and lost. Taylor had become the undisputed world champion in just his 18th fight. There were just a hundred or so in the Virgin complex on the night to witness history. None of Taylor's family and friends could be there. The bad nights followed, including last year, when Jack Catterall avenged a heavily debated loss to Taylor from 2022. In May of this year, he lost for the third consecutive time when he was narrowly beaten by Ekow Essuman. The eye injury was there; the end was near. Taylor will not make an easy traveller, but he will go off into the horizon with a spectacular legacy. The first and only undisputed British world champion in modern boxing. That is, trust me, enough.
Daily Record
14 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Brit comedian 'could be jailed' for three years in Turkey after 'embarrassing mistake'
Cerys Nelmes, a stand-up comic, claims that she walked out of a Zara shop in Turkey without paying and although returning and owning up to her error, she was arrested. A British comedian who walked out of a Turkish Zara store without paying could face up to three years behind bars, despite going back to apologise upon realising her mistake. On July 22, Cerys Nelmes, a stand-up comic from Bristol, said it was a mistake and claimed she left the store with clothes before realising she had not gone through the till. After returning to the store to hand back the items and offering to pay, Nelmes says she was instead detained, locked in a room for hours without explanation, and eventually arrested for shoplifting, reports the Mirror. She said she was taken to a police station, pressured to sign documents in a language she could not read, and held in a cell for 24 hours with no food, water or a toilet. She said: "I was told they didn't understand me." The next day, she was brought before a judge who released her but banned her from leaving the country. She now faces a potential three-year sentence as the case proceeds. Nelmes says she is stranded in Turkey, unable to afford accommodation and missing out on work back home, putting her and her son at risk of losing their UK home. She said: "I'm ok and have been taken in by a Turkish family who gave me food and a bed. I don't deserve all the kind words from people but I am very grateful." Recounting what happened, she said that she had left the store with several items of clothing before realising her error. Despite returning to the store, claiming she had returned the items and wanted to pay, Nelmes was seized for shoplifting. The English stand-up comic explained the incident in a social media post saying: "On Tuesday I left a Zara store in Istanbul without paying for items. "I returned straight away and handed the items to staff. I was asked to pay and I said I would and the manager accepted this. To cut a long story short I was then taken to a locked room where hours later after no communication from anyone I was taken away by police and held in a police station and was asked to sign things I couldn't read. "I was put in a prison cell for 24 hours with no food or toilet facilities. When I asked for water, I was told they didn't understand me. "I was handcuffed and taken for fingerprints and mugshots at 3am. I was handcuffed and taken to court the following day and put in a cell. "I appeared before the judge and was told by a translator that I was released, but unable to leave Turkey for an undetermined amount of time. He said I was lucky to not be put in prison but I currently face up to three years. I have to report to a local police station every Monday. "I am lucky I have good friends in Turkey who are currently looking after me, and trying to translate the paperwork. I have no money, no earnings coming in from home, and I am running out of important medication. I will lose my home which I share with my son, and livelihood. "I am not looking for sympathy. I made a mistake which I tried to immediately rectify. I am embarrassed for my friends, my family, and I have made my 78-year-old mum unwell. I will never forgive myself for what I have done. "I believe I did it for mental health medical problems, but ultimately there is no excuse." The comedian has asked for public support as the ongoing court proceedings are causing her to lose work and earnings. The British Embassy said in a short statement that they are providing their support. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.
Scottish Sun
14 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
Brit comedian facing 3 years in hellish Turkey prison for ‘shoplifting' after ‘accidentally' leaving Zara without paying
She was detained and accused of shoplifting in Istanbul NO LAUGHING MATTER Brit comedian facing 3 years in hellish Turkey prison for 'shoplifting' after 'accidentally' leaving Zara without paying Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BRIT comedian faces up to three years in a Turkish prison after she forgot to pay at a Zara store. Cerys Nelmes, from Bristol, claims she absentmindedly wandered out of the shop with clothes before realising she hadn't paid. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 5 Cerys Nelmes poses in undated photo Credit: Newsflash 5 Zara street shop in Istanbul Credit: Alamy 5 She was reportedly detained for shoplifting in Istanbul Credit: Newsflash She says she went back to the store in Istanbul to return the items and offered to pay. But despite this, she was detained and accused of shoplifting. Nelmes, who is a rising name in the Bristol comedy scene, took to social media to explain the incident. "On Tuesday I left a Zara store in Istanbul without paying for items," she said. "I returned straight away and handed the items to staff. I was asked to pay and I said I would and the manager accepted this. "To cut a long story short I was then taken to a locked room where hours later after no communication from anyone I was taken away by police and held in a police station and was asked to sign things I couldn't read. "I was put in a prison cell for 24 hours with no food or toilet facilities. "When I asked for water, I was told they didn't understand me." Nelmes was brought before a judge the next day, who permitted her release but barred her from leaving Turkey. She now faces a potential three-year prison sentence. Leaked footage shows terrifying power of new 'vacuum bomb' the GAZAP - one of the world's most destructive non-nuclear weapons The comedian is required to stay in the country while the incident is under investigation. She has appealed to the public for support in the wake of the incident, fearing she might lose her home back in Britain. The ongoing proceedings are leading to her losing work and income. Nelmes has been unable to afford accommodation in Turkey given she had only come for a short holiday but now finds herself banned from leaving. However, she was offered a place to stay by locals. She added: "I am ok and have been taken in by a Turkish family who have given me a bed and food. "I don't deserve all the kind words from people but I am very grateful." The British Embassy has confirmed it is offering support. It comes after a British tourist was dragged out of a holiday bar and beaten by staff after allegedly refusing to pay a £460 drinks bill. Footage from abar in Thailand's Chiang Mai city shows the holidaymaker being manhandled. The 26-year-old solo traveller was reportedly charged an inflated 20,000 baht - around £460 - for drinks at the Diamond Karaoke Bar. 5 Picture shows Cerys Nelmes Instagram story Credit: Newsflash
