Wimbledon: 'Remixed' doubles spurs the imagination

LONDON: The US Open’s reimagined mixed-doubles competition — offering $1 million winner’s prize — may be sparking romantic vibes, courtesy the Emma Raducanu-Carlos Alcaraz partnership, but is there even a shred of truth to it? Raducanu, 22, gets asked about it in press at Wimbledon, where she’s in the third round, and there are almost life-size caricatures of the Briton and the Spaniard up at the Village, at SW19. Tennis is manifesting it seems.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Alcaraz’s “I asked Emma” declaration may have fuelled the rumours.Raducanu, who won the US Open as an 18-year-old in 2021, and Alcaraz, who won the first of his five majors in New York aged 19, go back a long time.
The Spaniard lent to the moment when he called his partner “the boss ”, saying she could play the match and he would basically fill in wherever he was needed to. Raducanu was quick to come back with a question of her own, “I would like to know how much of the court he can cover in New York?”“I’m just gonna serve and I’m gonna pull myself away and let her play,” Alcaraz said. An ambitious journalist even tossed the dating question at Raducanu. “We’re just good friends,” she responded, smiling. While the romance rumours may be good for the event, it is as clear as the London summer sky that the pairings — for most of the 16 teams in the event — have been engineered by the organizers.World No. 1 Jannik Sinner, who is teaming up with Emma Navarro, spoke to the American for the first time at Wimbledon. In his pre-Championship media interaction, Sinner was asked how the partnership came about.“I met her yesterday for the first time. We never talked, we never texted. It’s actually a funny story,” he said, “The tournament wanted us to kind of play together because certain teams were already set up.” The 23-year-old added: “I’m very happy to play with Emma. I told her already, don’t get pissed with me if I miss volleys. Doubles, I struggle.”Navarro, Wimbledon’s 10th seed, joined in the fun during a television interview, saying, “He (Sinner) was begging me to play. I said, ‘Yeah sure. I guess I’ll play with you. You’re not the best player, but I’ll make an exception and try to get a better partner next year!”There may be a breakup, though, that could throw a spanner in the works for the US Open. If Greek media is to be believed, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Paula Badosa are no longer a couple. The break-up is believed to have happened at Wimbledon.Greek Tsitsipas and Spanish Badosa have done all the things people who breakup in the era of social media do — unfollow each other and delete all their pictures together.