Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz face US Open mixed doubles scheduling nightmare
The draw for the highly anticipated revamped US Open mixed doubles tournament has been revealed with organisers proudly confirming that Iga Swiatek, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz will compete.
However, there are still major doubts over their participation as the trio are set for a mad dash from Ohio to New York if they are to play in the first round at Flushing Meadows as they will be in action in the finals of the Cincinnati Open on Monday.
The new US Open mixed doubles event will be staged on Tuesday, August 19 and Wednesday, August 20 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center with 16 teams being confirmed for the two-day tournament.
After weeks of speculation, organisers have rubberstamped the teams and draw, and some of the high-profile teams include Alcaraz teaming up with Emma Raducanu, Sinner partnering Katerina Siniakova, Swiatek and Casper Ruud forming a team while Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula will be the top seeds.
Tennis great Novak Djokovic will also feature as he will partner fellow Serbian Olga Danilovic.
As for the draw, No 1 seeds Pegula and Draper face Raducanu and Alcaraz, Swiatek and Ruud take on Madison Keys and Frances Tiafoe while Siniakova and Sinner will face Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev.
The schedule has also been released and all matches in New York will, surprisingly, be played during the day.
Naomi Osaka and Gael Monfils’ match against Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti will kick things off on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday with the match set to start 11:00 New York time (15:00 GMT/16:00 BST).
After that it is the turn of Swiatek and Ruud as they will take on Keys and Tiafoe. That match is scheduled to follow directly after the opener so it will be about 12:30 local time (16:30 GMT/17:30B ST).
But there is the small matter of the Cincinnati Open final as Swiatek will take on Jasmine Paolini in Ohio.
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The Swiatek-Paolini clash is scheduled for 18:00 in Mason (22:00 GMT/23:00 BST), which means the reigning Wimbledon champion will have to leave immediately after the final to fly to New York if she is to play on Tuesday morning.
Sinner and Alcaraz will have a bit more leeway as the men’s final takes place at 15:00 (19:00 GMT/20:00 BST) in Ohio while their US Open mixed doubles clashes will take place at midday.
Alcaraz and Raducanu’s encounter against Pegula-Draper won’t start before 14:00 (18:00 GMT/19:00 BST) on Arthur Ashe while Sinner-Siniakova won’t be in action before 3pm.
Those who win their opening matches will then play their quarter-final matches later in the day before the semi-finals and finals take place on Wednesday.
That may well be the reason why Paolini withdrew from the mixed doubles tournament as she was set to partner fellow Italian Musetti, but her entry was scrapped at the last minute with Musetti teaming up with McNally.
