Carlos Alcaraz just dropped some pretty exciting news about his upcoming mixed doubles partnership with Emma Raducanu at the 2025 US Open. And it turns out, he’s the one who made it happen.
The Spanish superstar revealed exactly how their team came together after his first-round win against Adam Walton at Queen’s Club. Spoiler alert: Alcaraz had to do the asking.
A Completely New Format
The 2025 US Open is shaking things up with their mixed doubles tournament. We’re talking shorter matches, more action, and most importantly – all the biggest singles stars are jumping in.
| Name | Age | Points | Stats 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carlos Alcaraz | 22 | 68,791 | 25 - 5 |
The tournament organizers released their initial entry list months ago, and wow. The lineup is absolutely incredible.
Some of these partnerships aren’t exactly new. Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa have teamed up before (they’re dating, so that makes sense). Ben Shelton and Taylor Townsend made it to the 2023 US Open mixed doubles semifinals together.
Novak Djokovic played with Olga Danilovic at the United Cup. Other duos like Taylor Fritz and Elena Rybakina, plus Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev, have joined forces in exhibition matches.
But then there are the partnerships that have everyone talking.
Jannik Sinner will play with Emma Navarro. Jack Draper is teaming up with Qinwen Zheng. And the pairing that’s generating the most buzz? Alcaraz and Raducanu.
She’s Gonna Be the Boss
When reporters asked Alcaraz about the partnership after his Queen’s Club match, he couldn’t help but smile.
"She’s gonna be the boss (smiling). Yeah, I mean, the US Open came to us and gave us opportunities to play mixed doubles. I’m super excited about it. I think it’s going to be great. It was an amazing idea for the tournament."
The 22-year-old clearly knows these two already have great chemistry off the court.
"I’ve known Emma for a really long time, so we know each other. I have a really good relationship with her. So it’s just gonna be interesting. You know, obviously both, we are gonna enjoy, for sure. I will try to put my doubles skill on it. We will try to win. But obviously it’s going to be really, really fun."
Despite his impressive first-round performance at the ATP 500 tournament, it was his partnership with the British No. 1 that dominated his press conference.
The Special Request
But here’s the really interesting part. When reporters dug deeper about who came up with the idea, Alcaraz admitted he was the one who reached out.
"I mean, the tournament told us about the tournament, the mixed tournament. I was thinking that I couldn’t play better if it wasn’t with Emma. I just asked Emma if she wants to play doubles with me. Yeah, I made that special request."
So the four-time Grand Slam champion basically slid into Raducanu’s DMs? Well, tennis version of it anyway.
And apparently, she didn’t answer right away.
"She took a while (laughter). No, not that much, not that much. But obviously she had to ask, and she had to think a little bit. But it wasn’t a minute, so…"
You can practically hear him trying to save face there. Nobody likes waiting for a text back, even if you’re Carlos Alcaraz.
Back to Business
While the mixed doubles partnership is definitely exciting, Alcaraz has more immediate concerns at Queen’s Club. His next opponent is Jaume Munar, a fellow Spaniard who’s… well, let’s just say he’s not exactly a grass court specialist.
He originally would have faced Jordan Thompson, who’s actually one of the better grass court players on tour. But the Australian got injured during his first-round match.
Talk about a lucky break for Alcaraz. Munar has won exactly four grass court matches in his entire professional career. One of those was because his opponent retired, and the highest-ranked player he’s ever beaten on grass was Thiago Monteiro back in 2022.
Monteiro was ranked 89th at the time.
Yeah, this should be pretty straightforward for the five-time Grand Slam champion. Which means he can probably spend some time thinking about mixed doubles strategy instead of worrying about his next match.
The real question now? Whether Alcaraz and Raducanu can live up to all the hype when they finally hit the courts together in New York.
