NEW YORK: Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu plan to team up in a star-studded and radically overhauled US Open mixed doubles competition set to include most of the top men's and women's singles players.
Tournament organisers on Tuesday announced 16 pairings for the new-look format, with Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek all named on the entry list.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!US tennis chiefs announced sweeping changes to the mixed doubles earlier this year, unveiling plans to stage the competition as a standalone event in the week before the singles draws begin.
The tournament will be made up of 16 teams, with eight teams earning direct entry based on their combined singles ranking playing alongside eight wild-card entrants.
"Seeing the teams that have already put their names on the entry list makes us all incredibly excited," said Lew Sherr, the CEO and executive director of the United States Tennis Association.
"It shows that the players are behind what we are trying to do, and we know that the fans will love it."
The pairings announced by organisers are not guaranteed to play in the event, but it is an indication the players listed are keen to be involved. The entry deadline is July 28.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and Nick Kyrgios could also partner up, with Coco Gauff and Holger Rune the only two players missing from the top 10 in both the men's and women's singles rankings.
The winning pair will share a prize of $1 million.
But the decision to shake up the competition using an amended rulebook has attracted stinging criticism.
Last year's US Open mixed doubles winners, Italian duo Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, initially lambasted the move, labelling it a "profound injustice".
However, they were among the teams on the entry list.
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