"He was like a lost little puppy on the court," Stubbs not convinced by Alcaraz in doubles ahead of partnership with Raducanu at the US Open
In recent days, the US Open, which has revamped its mixed doubles format, announced the participating pairs for its 2025 edition. The winning pair will take home a check for one million euros.
Among the duos set to compete this summer on the courts of Flushing Meadows in New York, Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz will play the tournament together in the coming weeks.
However, Rennae Stubbs, a former Australian player who now hosts a podcast discussing tennis news, is not convinced by this pairing, particularly due to Alcaraz's poor doubles performances, in her opinion.
"For me, the Carlos Alcaraz/Emma Raducanu duo is the weakest in the lineup. It's not against either of them, I'm just speaking from a doubles perspective. You all know what I think of these two players. I've spoken highly of them in recent years. But, in this tournament, they'll be the weakest pair.
Carlos, I saw him play doubles with Rafa (Nadal) at the Paris Olympics last year, and he was like a lost little puppy on the court. Half the time, he didn’t know where to hit the ball or where to position himself.
As great a player as he is—and he’s arguably the best in the world right now—I don’t know if he has a real feel for doubles," she elaborated to First Sportz.
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Remember how she agreed to play Wimbledon doubles with Murray, only to pull out last minute, thus spoiling Murray's only way to bid farewell to Wimbledon upon his retirement.