Emma Raducanu gets sign as Carlos Alcaraz US Open partnership at risk

Emma Raducanu has received a promising sign ahead of the US Open mixed doubles tournament, where she is set to partner up with Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard is still in action at the Cincinnati Open, where he will contest the singles final at 3pm local time. Less than 24 hours later, he's due to take to the court with Raducanu in New York.

It means their partnership is still up in the air, and given the quick turnaround, Alcaraz could well withdraw before he and Raducanu face Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula on Tuesday afternoon. But there is still hope that the world No. 2 will be ready to compete alongside the Brit.

During his time in Cincinnati, Alcaraz has been joined by his second coach, Samuel Lopez. Head coach and former world No. 1 Juan Carlos Ferrero has been taking a break following Alcaraz's run to the Wimbledon final.

According to Marca, Ferrero is now travelling to New York, where he intends to link up with the five-time Major champion on Tuesday, ready for Alcaraz's first mixed doubles match alongside Raducanu.

It seems that, in team Alcaraz, the sentiment is that he will still jet straight to Flushing Meadows to compete in the revamped mixed doubles tournament.

Up until the final, all matches in the mixed doubles will use a best-of-three set, fast-four scoring format. It means each set is first to four games. There is a tiebreak at 3-3, there will be no advantage scoring at deuce, and the final set will be a 10-point match tiebreaker.

Even if Alcaraz plays into the evening in Cincinnati, he won't exert himself too much on the court in New York thanks to the shortened scoring system.

The world No. 2 will face his biggest rival, Jannik Sinner, in the Cincinnati Open final. Sinner is also still in the US Open mixed doubles draw alongside top doubles player Katerina Siniakova.

Currently sitting at No. 2 in the WTA doubles rankings, Siniakova won gold in mixed doubles at last year's Paris Olympics alongside Tomas Machac. She also has a gold medal in women's doubles, and 11 Grand Slam titles in women's and mixed doubles.

She and Sinner are also expected to compete on Tuesday at a similar time to Raducanu and Alcaraz.

In the women's singles final in Cincinnati, Iga Swiatek will face Jasmine Paolini not before 6pm local time. And Swiatek is due to begin her US Open mixed doubles campaign with Casper Ruud around 12pm local time on Tuesday.

It remains to be seen whether Alcaraz, Sinner or Swiatek pull out of the mixed competition at the 11th hour. Paolini, who was meant to play with Lorenzo Musetti, has already withdrawn. Musetti will now team up with Caty McNally.

If Raducanu and Alcaraz take to the court and win their match against Draper and Pegula, they'll be expected to return for the quarter-final around an hour later. They'll face either Novak Djokovic and Olga Danilovic, or Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva.

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