Emma Raducanu says her upcoming mixed doubles partnership with Carlos Alcaraz is a reflection of the meaningful, friendly connection the pair made as they were rising up the rankings at the start of their careers.
“It is nice and I think, for all of us, we really value those connections that we had from when we were young,” Raducanu said. “Because when you become a bit more known or a bit more successful, you just find yourself reverting back to people you knew from a young age and because that’s a real genuine connection, because it becomes very busy and you have a lot more friends – but the ones that you’ve known for a long time mean a lot more to you.”
Raducanu and Alcaraz, both 22, will compete together in the US Open mixed doubles tournament in August, which has been revamped controversially this year in order to spotlight the top players. The event will be played in a streamlined two-day format during the week before the US Open. Raducanu says they first got to know each other at Wimbledon in 2021 and they forged a friendly connection during their respective breakout runs at the US Open that year.
“I remember he beat Stef [Tsitsipas] in the third round and it was like a big win, his breakout win on a big stage and it was really cool to kind of, I guess, go through that tournament together and then I kept going through the US Open, but we were staying in touch for the whole time. Yeah, it’s nice. We have a good relationship still. He’s obviously overtaken me a lot, but it’s nice that we have that from a while ago.”
A few days after their partnership was announced to significant fanfare, Raducanu opted to catch a glimpse of Alcaraz at Queen’s Club during his semi-final win against Roberto Bautista Agut, an appearance that generated even more headlines. “I saw some really cool drop volleys and I was like: ‘Yes, let’s save some of that!’ But he’s got plenty of magic to bring to New York. But it was just, I was having the day off on Saturday and I was with my friends and we were like: ‘Let’s go to Queen’s [Club] and watch the tennis,’ and then we went out and to the River Cafe in the evening. It was a super nice evening and then I just came here on Sunday.”
For the time being, Raducanu has more serious challenges to focus on than a glorified exhibition event. Her solid start to the grass court season at Queen’s Club, where she reached the quarter-finals and re-established herself as the British No 1, was soured by further issues with back spasms, which have troubled her on numerous occasions this year. Raducanu withdrew from the Berlin Open last week.
“It’s OK,” she said. “I’m still managing it, to be honest. I have good days and bad days with it. I trained a fair bit last week in London and it was good. I was getting a lot of treatment and then woke up pretty stiff at the weekend, took a day off and then trained yesterday and today, but it needs a lot of work and it is up and down. So I’m just trying to manage it as best as I can.”
Raducanu, the No 7 seed, will face Ann Li in the first round at Eastbourne, her final tournament before Wimbledon begins next week. She says she is doing everything she can to ensure that she is in top physical shape and form for her biggest tournament of the year. “Needles, soft tissue, some muscle stimulation stuff, taping, everything,” Raducanu said. “It’s just ongoing, but it’s OK. It seems to be OK today.”
The British No 5 Dan Evans battled back from a set down to defeat Miomir Kecmanovic in the first round of the Lexus Eastbourne Open. The 35-year-old, who has received a wild card for Wimbledon, triumphed 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 against the Serbian world No 49. He will face the American second seed Tommy Paul – the 2023 runner-up – in round two.
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Evans, ranked 170 in the world, arrived at Devonshire Park having last week celebrated the best grass-court win of his career with victory against the world No 13 Frances Tiafoe in the first round at Queen’s Club.
“For whatever time I have left, it’s a work in progress,” he told the BBC. “Me and my coach have been working hard on certain things, like everybody else does, but sometimes it takes time.”
In the women’s draw, the British No 5 Fran Jones registered a straight-sets victory against the Belgian world No 70 Greet Minnen. The 24-year-old wild-card entrant progressed 6-4, 7-5 in 1hr 48min.