Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula cruised to a straight-sets win against Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu in the first round of the revamped US Open mixed doubles.
Men’s British No. 1 Draper and American partner Pegula overcame men’s world No. 2 Alcaraz and top-ranked British woman Raducanu 4-2, 4-2 in 51 minutes to reach the quarterfinals.
Raducanu lost her serve in the opening game, and although there were no further break points in the first set, that was enough for Draper and Pegula to clinch it.
Alcaraz and Raducanu opened up a 1-0 lead in the second set but were broken again to fall 2-1 behind, and Draper demonstrated his accuracy and power to hold his own serve to edge 3-1 ahead.
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Raducanu saved three break points before holding to cut the deficit to 3-2, but Draper sealed victory on the third match point in the next game with a stunning forehand down the line.
Draper and Pegula returned to book their place in the semifinals as they thrashed Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva — conquerors of Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic — 4-1, 4-1.
The pair will face Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud in Wednesday’s semifinal, with the final to be played later the same day.
The mixed doubles has come under the spotlight at Flushing Meadows after being rescheduled to start before the main tournament, with $1 million (£750,000) in prize money at stake for the winners of the 16-pair event.
