‘She’s gonna be the boss’ — Carlos Alcaraz’s special request to play doubles with Emma Raducanu was granted

Carlos Alcaraz shared how excited he is to play with Emma Raducanu, after it was confirmed that both athletes will team up in the mixed doubles at this season’s US Open.

Young athletes Alcaraz and Raducanu were one of the most exciting pairs for the upcoming tournament, and they will strengthen their off-court friendship by playing on-court together for the very first time. 

“She’s gonna be the boss… I’m super excited about it. I think it’s going to be great. It was an amazing idea for the tournament… I’ve known Emma for a really long time, so we know each other. I have a really good relationship with her. We are going to enjoy it, for sure,” Alcaraz said. 

He added, “I will try to bring my doubles skill. We will try to win, but obviously it’s going to be really, really fun… I was thinking that I couldn’t play better unless it was with Emma. I just asked Emma if she wants to play doubles with me. Yeah, I made that special request.” 

On having doubles experience

Alcaraz has valuable experience in doubles from playing alongside Rafael Nadal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, Raducanu has less experience. She previously played with Katie Boulter at the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club, yet she declared that she did not know what she was doing back then. 

Growing popularity heading to the US Open, the Alcaraz/Raducanu partnership is now nicknamed “Alcaranu” and has gained so much attention now. 

In a social media post shared by Tennis Channel, Alcaraz shared how he ended up being partners with Emma. The post caption stated: “The duo we didn’t know we needed 🤝”

Netizens were clearly thrilled about the Alcaraz-Raducanu pairing, with many pointing out how giddy and animated Alcaraz looked while talking about it. One user wrote, “He’s so cute ☺️ sweated more during this interview than the RG final lol,” while another joked, “That man was sweating !!!!!! 😅 can’t wait to see them play!” A third added, “Awww, I’m so happy! He asked her lol! It would be fun just to watch Carlitos and Emma play mixed doubles! Such a cute matchup! 😍👏”

The US Open, which will happen on August 19-20, is making mixed doubles even more exciting by scheduling the event a week before the start of the main tournament. 

Here is the list of the mixed doubles teams for the upcoming US Open (as of June 17, 2025):