Jack Draper received a telling-off from his US Open mixed doubles partner Jessica Pegula after he mistakenly branded the tournament an “exhibition”. Draper and Pegula are the No. 1 seeds in the draw for the revamped mixed event, which has a staggering £741k ($1million) prize up for grabs for the champions.
The British-American duo are now through to the semi-final after beating Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz in their opening match, and Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev in the quarters. They’ve quickly built a good bond on the court, but Pegula wasn’t happy with some of Draper’s post-match comments.
As part of the US Open mixed doubles competition’s dramatic overhaul this year, it was reduced to a 16-team draw, with eight pairs getting in based on their combined singles rankings and eight receiving wildcards.
A shortened scoring format is being used until the final, with sets played to four games, no advantages at deuce, and a 10-point tiebreak in place of a third set. It has sparked some questions about the validity of its place as a mixed doubles Grand Slam, and Draper added fuel to the fire when he suggested it was an exhibition.
Asked about the potential of lifting a Major trophy in mixed doubles, the British No. 1 said: “Yeah, it would mean a lot. Obviously it is like a bit of an exhibition format. It’s nice to play with someone.”
But Pegula quickly scolded him. “You shouldn’t be saying that, but that’s okay,” the world No. 4 told her partner.
Draper was initially confused. “What? What did I say? Have a bit of fun with it. I don’t know. I like winning. It’s good to win, right?” he asked.
“Yeah. It’s not an exhibition. I know what you’re saying,” Pegula replied. But Draper – who was playing his first tournament since Wimbledon – still didn’t seem to catch on.
The world No. 5 was forced to miss the Masters 1000 tournaments in Canada and Cincinnati due to an arm injury, so Tuesday’s matches were his first opportunity to test himself against other players before the singles draw gets underway in Flushing Meadows.
He continued: “I’m hearing that a lot, it’s a bit of an exhibition, a bit of fun, why am I so locked in. It’s a good opportunity to play, do well, get a lot of points in before next week, yeah. Like, I’m enjoying being locked in. I don’t know why it’s a crime to be locked in.”
Pegula simply laughed at his response. “No, it’s fine. I’m just laughing at the ‘exhibition’ part,” the former doubles No. 1 said.
But she was later stumped when asked what place she thought the US Open’s mixed doubles event had in the tennis calendar compared to regular tournaments and exhibitions.
“That’s a good question. I don’t know. I understand what he was saying, I was just kind of giving him s***. Yeah, it has somewhat the feeling it’s an exho. It’s not called that. But I don’t really know. What are the terms?” Pegula replied.
Whatever they see the tournament as, if Draper and Pegula can go on to lift the title on Wednesday night, they will both be crowned US Open mixed doubles champions and take home £741k in prize money.
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Content Source: www.express.co.uk