Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles.
One app.

Start reading

Get all your news in one place.

100's of premium titles. One news app.

Start reading

Evening Standard

Sport

Oli Gent

US Open 2026 mixed doubles: Are Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu playing in star-studded event?

Carlos Alcaraz Emma Raducanu Jannik Sinner Arthur Fery Novak Djokovic Jack Draper Jessica Pegula United States US Open Alexander Zverev

The US Open mixed doubles event will continue its star-studded theme this year, and the pairings for the 2026 draw have been confirmed.

Last year saw some of the biggest names in both the men’s and women’s games join forces for a newly-shaped event aimed at bringing more eyes to doubles as a discipline.

The US Tennis Association (USTA) confirmed that Arthur Ashe Stadium was sold out across the draw’s two days during ‘Fan Week’ at Flushing Meadows, which is held in the days leading up to the main singles competitions.

Carlos Alcaraz partnered Britain’s Emma Raducanu in one of the star duos, while Jack Draper was joined by home favourite Jessica Pegula.

Novak Djokovic was joined by compatriot Olga Danilovic while world No1 Jannik Sinner was set to play with doubles specialist Katerina Siniakova before the Italian withdrew, having retired from his Cincinnati final against Alcaraz with illness the day previously.

Serbians unite: Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic (Getty)

Now, the format returns for another year, and there are more star pairings to watch this time around.

Djokovic, the four-time men’s singles champion in New York, partners women’s world No1 Aryna Sabalenka in the most high-profile team, while Draper, who was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon after his bone injury flared up once more, lines up alongside Pegula again after their run to the semi-finals last year.

Beaten finalists Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud - who defeated Draper and Pegula in the last four - are back, and defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, doubles specialists, are also in the draw.

Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz reunite, while Naomi Osaka, who wowed Wimbledon crowds with her kimono walk-on oufits, will play with Japanese compatriot Kei Nishikori.

There is another Brit in the draw - not Raducanu, and not shock SW19 semi-finalist Arthur Fery - but Henry Patten, who teams up with Siniakova after he claimed a third doubles Grand Slam title at the All England Club earlier this month, alongside his Finnish partner Harri Heliovaara.

Reigning champions: Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani (AFP/Getty)

Are Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner playing?

The top two men in the world are not yet registered in this event for a couple of reasons.

Alcaraz, firstly, has not played on the men’s tour since April this year, and has been struggling with a wrist injury since then.

The problem forced him to pull out of his French Open title defence and Wimbledon, where he was looking to avenge last year’s defeat by Sinner.

Sinner, meanwhile, who retained his crown on the south London grass with his victory over Alexander Zverev, pulled out of the Montreal Masters 1000 event at the beginning of August, to prioritise his health following his Wimbledon triumph.

The bloated calendar has long been a debate in the sport, with Alcaraz remarking back in 2024 that too many tournaments would eventually “kill us in some way”.

Wimbledon champion: Jannik Sinner (PA Wire)

Djokovic, who reached the semi-finals at SW19, has also withdrawn from Montreal for similar reasons.

As such, it remains to be seen which tournaments the ‘big three’ at the top of the men’s game will play in in the lead-up to the final Grand Slam of the year.

Alcaraz is entered into the Cincinnati Open at the back end of August in a bid to prove his fitness ahead of his visit to Flushing Meadows, and Sinner is the same.

Are Emma Raducanu and Arthur Fery playing?

Raducanu has been out of action since she withdrew last minute from Wimbledon with a stress fracture in her right leg.

She had told reporters in the day before the tournament that she had intended to play through the pain at her home major, but performed a U-turn on the eve of her first round indicating that she could no longer compete.

Her return date is yet to be confirmed.

As for Fery, whose fairytale run at the All England Club was ended in the semi-finals by Zverev, his meteoric rise to world No36 - and British No1 - has earned him newfound stardom.

That, however, does not seem to have translated over to the US, yet, and he has not received a call-up for this event.