Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz crashed out of the US Open mixed doubles as they were beaten 4-2, 4-2 by number one seed Jessica Pegula and Jack Draper in the first round.
The pair had been the main draw to the tournament, as fans were excited to see the pair in action while dating rumours swirl between the two.
Alcaraz was playing on little sleep, having had to jet over from Cincinnati after winning his sixth title of the year after Jannik Sinner retired from the final due to illness.
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The 22-year-olds lost the opening set after being broken in the very first game of the match, as Draper came out with a bang, and that break held through the end of the revamped first set.
A very similar pattern followed in the second set, with Draper breaking again to the number one seed ahead, but Alcaraz pulled the set back level with some highlight-worthy plays.
Ultimately, it was not enough as the pair were comfortably beaten. Draper and Pegula will now go on to play again today, as the new format is only played across two days.
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After the game, Draper was very happy with the win: "I have got a pretty good partner!"
"What an experience out here playing with Jessica against Emma and Carlos. It doesn't get any better than this, so it's just a pleasure to be out here playing against them and with such a great player,” he declared.
The new style of mixed doubles has meant the players have had to deal with major changes for the tournament.
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Despite the loss the pair seemed to be having fun on court
|Reuters
The length of the sets has been shortened to four to win a set, there are no break points within games, and a tie-break decides the final set should teams take a set each.
The tournament had been fraught with issues with high-level players dropping out, Jannik Sinner being the biggest name of all, dropping out just hours before, as fans were worried whether the event would even go ahead.
The winners of the tournament will go on to win £1million, up from £500,000 last season, but the tournament struggled to draw fans, as the stadium was still not full during the match-up.
Draper and Pegula will go on to face either Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic or Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva, who face off for a spot in the second round.
Jack Draper will go onto the second round along with partner Jessica Pegula
|Reuters
On the other side of the draw, Wimbledon champion Iga Swiatek and Casper Rudd made their way past Caty McNally and Lorenzo Musetti to book their place in the semi-finals tomorrow.
Alcaraz and Raducanu will now turn their attention to the singles draw which kicks off next week.