Emma Raducanu is back in action for the North American hard court swing.
She is currently playing at the Citi Open in Washington D.C., and will likely compete in one or two more tournaments across Canada and Cincinnati, Ohio, before returning to the US Open.
Flushing Meadows was the scene of Raducanu’s greatest career moment so far, where she went on to lift the title as a qualifier without dropping a set in 2021.
Before entering the singles draw in New York, Raducanu will feature in the revamped US Open mixed doubles tournament, alongside five-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz.
Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty ImagesEmma Raducanu is ‘scared’ to play against Ben Shelton in the US Open mixed doubles tournament
Emma Raducanu is looking forward to joining forces with Alcaraz to go for mixed doubles glory at the US Open.
They are one of 25 teams featuring the world’s best ATP and WTA players. She is now working on her doubles skills as Raducanu is playing alongside Elena Rybakina in Washington D.C.
During a press conference on Thursday, Raducanu was asked about the revamped mixed doubles event in New York, to which she admitted being scared to play certain shots from the ATP players.
When asked for specifics, Raducanu mentioned Ben Shelton, who has one of the biggest serves in the game.
“Ben Shelton’s serve, that scares me. (Laughter.) That’s probably one in particular. And then obviously all the guys. It’s very difficult to return their serves,” Raducanu admitted.
“But of course I’m very excited. It’s such a unique opportunity, and I think, you know, a lot of the females will probably be feeling the same way. Returning the guys’ serve is quite difficult.”
Photo by Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/Getty Images for evianEmma Raducanu describes relationship with Carlos Alcaraz ahead of the US Open mixed doubles event
Both Raducanu and Alcaraz have spoken on multiple occasions about their friendship.
After their US Open mixed doubles partnership was announced, Raducanu went to watch Alcaraz play at the Queen’s Club Championships.
After watching him she said: “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.”
Raducanu opened up on when she met Alcaraz and how they bonded over their progress at the 2021 US Open, where Alcaraz won an epic match against Stefanos Tsitsipas as just 18 years of age.
“I remember he beat Stef [Tsitsipas] in the third round [2021 US Open] and it was like a big win, his breakout win on a big stage and it was really cool to kind of go through that tournament together,” Raducanu said.
“We have a good relationship still. He’s obviously overtaken me a lot, but it’s nice we have that from a while ago.”