The US Open mixed doubles event has officially got underway, with Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula one of the star teams on day one.
Draper is returning to tennis at the US Open, after missing the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open due to an arm injury.
The Briton was always scheduled to make his return in doubles, but Draper changed his partner twice after both Qinwen Zheng and Paula Badosa withdrew.
That player is Pegula, the US Open singles and former mixed doubles finalist who has helped Draper make a positive start to the event.
Jessica Pegula tells Jack Draper off for calling the US Open mixed doubles event an ‘exhibition’
This is the first time that Pegula and Draper have played together, beating the pairs of Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu, and Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva to reach the semifinals.
After reaching the last four in New York, the new pairing headed to their press conference, where Draper called the event an exhibition.
This is something that the US Open have been trying to shy away from, and Pegula told Draper that he should not be saying that while laughing.
Draper: Yeah, it would mean a lot. Obviously it is like a bit of an exhibition format. It’s nice to play with someone.
Pegula: You shouldn’t be saying that, but that’s okay.
Draper: What? What did I say?
Pegula: You guys know what I mean.
Draper: Have a bit of fun with it. I don’t know. I like winning. It’s good to win, right?
Pegula: Yeah. It’s not an exhibition. I know what you’re saying.
Draper: 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: No, it’s fine (laughter). I’m just laughing at the ‘exhibition’ part.
Jack Draper says if he thinks other Grand Slams could follow the US Open
The US Open are the first of the four Grand Slams to change their event in this way, with the Australian Open already confirming they have no plans to follow suit.
There has been a lot of criticism for the US Open for this change, but Draper is in favour of all the Grand Slams following the New York major.
“Yeah, I mean, I think it’s great, to be honest,” said Draper. “If I wasn’t playing the mixed here, I’d be training. I actually prefer sort of, like Jessica said, playing on a big court in front of people.
“It sort of gets your eye in quicker. I think it would be cool if all the slams did this. That’s my opinion. I don’t know about yours.”
Pegula has a lot more experience playing doubles at Grand Slams, explaining that she prefers to do that in her off days rather than spending time on the practice court.
“Yeah, one of the reasons I always played a lot of doubles, played doubles and singles, is because I really enjoyed it on the off days,” added Pegula.
“I know it’s maybe different for men playing three-out-of-five at a slam. I always enjoyed it. I’d rather compete and work on things in doubles. It’s pretty similar with working on serve, return, first ball, stuff like that.
“I always enjoyed that rather than sitting around and hitting the ball for 45 minutes, nitpicking what’s wrong with me today (smiling). I’d rather play. Yeah, I’m all for it. I think it’s been a really fun experience so far.”
Pegula and Draper will now look to win the US Open mixed doubles event, with both the semifinals and final taking place on Wednesday, August 20.
Standing in their way of reaching the final are the pairing of Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud.
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