Singles take centre stage at US Open after mixed doubles jamboree

It was a concept not without its controversy, as the world’s top singles players were matched up with the verve of a keen blind-date organiser. You would be forgiven for confusing it with a reality dating show. “Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper have re-paired together” went the press release, following the withdrawal of their original partners, American Tommy Paul and Spain’s Paula Badosa.

If the sight of the top men and women giggling their way through a few shortened tennis matches, complete with gushing Instagram posts, was not enough to fulfil your gossipy needs, fear not, the US Open does also have its own actual reality dating show.

“Game, Set, Matchmaker” airs on YouTube on Sunday as the singles tournament begins. One “tennis savvy bachelorette” – former figure skater Ilana Sedaka – will go on seven different dates that are loosely tennis-themed in the hope of finding love. According to the tournament, it “fuses the emotional rollercoaster of a dating show with the electric energy of one of the world’s biggest sporting events”.

It did not come as a huge surprise that the mixed doubles tournament was won by the only mixed doubles specialists in the competition. Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori were the holders and managed to look only mildly bemused about how much the tournament had changed in the intervening 12 months. Their reward – an overall cheque for $1m – was five times as much prize money as they received in 2024, and may have sated their bemusement of the whole thing a touch.

It is unlikely to be the last time we see the format, though, with 78,000 people watching over the two days, and it may not be long until other grand slams see it as an equally useful way to grab some extra calendar real estate. However, with that done and dusted, the singles players will return to what they must all definitely consider the serious business.

In the men’s draw, a third consecutive grand-slam final between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz feels inevitable. Potential contenders to upset that would really only be Novak Djokovic – who knocked out Alcaraz at the last grand slam where Sincaraz was not the tournament finale – or perhaps Taylor Fritz, the main American male hopeful, who lost to Sinner in last year’s final. Djokovic has appeared to be doing the tennis version of quiet quitting, having not played since Wimbledon. “For me it is about: where do I find motivation and joy?” he said. “Where will I be inspired to play the best tennis and where do I care to play? I don’t actually have any schedule other than slams.”

Last year was a breakthrough for Draper, who achieved his best slam performance to date when he reached the semi-finals. He has not played singles tennis since Wimbledon but looked in good spirits during the mixed doubles, and will begin his campaign here against qualifier Federico Agustín Gómez before a potential fourth-round meeting with Lorenzo Musetti. Other British players Jacob Fearnley and Cameron Norrie will play Roberto Bautista Agut and Sebastian Korda respectively.

Meanwhile, Emma Raducanu returns to the setting of her greatest moment, and the place she has arguably been trying to shake off. Like Draper, she will begin against a qualifier, Ena Shibahara, off the back of a strong hard-court season so far, including reaching the semi-finals in Washington. Her three-set epic against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati built on their meeting at Wimbledon and showed Raducanu can compete with the best.

They could meet again if Raducanu can get past some tricky potential early opponents like Veronika Kudermetova and Elena Rybakina. Sonay Kartal will face 18th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia and Katie Boulter will go up against 27th seed Marta Kostyuk.

Raducanu has cut a notably more relaxed figure over the past year and described herself as “happy” ahead of the tournament beginning. “When I won in ’21, [there was] this world of potential negativity and bringing people down. I’d say that affected me a lot over the last few years. It still definitely gets me from time to time, but overall I can enjoy what I’m doing day to day a lot more.”

It is hard to pick a favourite for the women’s draw, with Sabalenka, Coco Gauff and Iga Świątek having won the last three editions between them. Świątek looks in strong form after her Wimbledon title, winning in Cincinnati last week and making the final of the mixed doubles at Flushing Meadows.

Gauff will have home advantage but has split with one of her coaches, Matt Daly, days before the tournament’s start with mounting concerns over her serve. She hit 42 double faults across three singles matches at the Canadian Open.

Meanwhile, Sabalenka continues to be a mystery. Utterly imperious when at her absolute best but with the mental frailty which makes her so watchable. For all the talk of a Sincaraz final, a rematch of the French Open final between Sabalenka and Gauff would be equally, if not more, compelling.

But for many US Open attendees, the biggest attraction in the women’s draw may be 45-year-old Venus Williams, the oldest singles entrant at the slam since 1981. The two-time champion last won the tournament an astonishing 24 years ago, and is making her first grand-slam appearance since 2023. Williams will face 11th seed Karolína Muchová.

The US Open does come with its own unique set of distractions, filled as it is with all the bells and whistles of prime-time American sport. But at its heart, it remains a tennis tournament rich with storylines. Just don’t forget to visit the Immersive Gaming Zone.

GB players at the US Open

Women’s singles (ranking/seeding in brackets)

Emma Raducanu (35) v Ena Shibahara (130)

Katie Boulter (48) v Marta Kostyuk (27th)

Sonay Kartal (51) v Beatriz Haddad Maia (18th)

Fran Jones (86) v Eva Lys (60)

Men’s singles

Jack Draper (5th) v Federico Agustín Gómez (206)

Jacob Fearnley (59) v Roberto Bautista Agut (47)

Cameron Norrie (36) v Sebastian Korda (86)

Billy Harris (151) v Félix Auger-Aliassime (25th)

Photograph by Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images