British No1s meet as rivals in first round of 16-pair event
Raducanu and Alcaraz to play Draper and Pegula
British No 1s Jack Draper and Emma Raducanu will face each other in the first round of the revamped US Open mixed doubles. The event has been moved to before the main tournament on 19 and 20 August, with $1m (£750,000) in prize money at stake for the winners of the 16-pair event.
Draper will play with American Jessica Pegula after their original partners, Paula Badosa and Tommy Paul, both withdrew. With both inside the top five in the singles rankings, the pair have been handed the top seeding and will kick off their campaign against wildcard pair Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz.
The winners could face 24-time grand slam champion Novak Djokovic and his partner Olga Danilovic if the Serbian pair overcome Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev. Venus Williams, at the age of 45, faces Karolina Muchova and Andrey Rublev alongside compatriot Reilly Opelka.
