NEW YORK – Jessica Pegra and Jack Draper will cooperate with the US Open Mix Double Stonament after their former partners withdraw from the remodeled event on Friday.
With Emma Navarro also starting Tuesday and will play in a tournament in Monterey, Mexico instead, top-ranked male player Janik Thinner also needs a new partner if he wants to play in an event that will reward the winning team with $1 million in rewards.
Pegra is scheduled to play with American-American Tommy Paul, and the draper has been paired with Paula Badosa. Pegula, Draper and Sinner were allowed to find new partners by the Sunday deadline, and were able to maintain direct entry to the 16 teams’ field if the total singles ranking was high enough.
Last year’s US Open Women’s Runner-up Pegula and Draper had a 9 ranking at the entry deadline.
After a withdrawal and a new pairing, Italians Jasmine Paolini and Lorenzo Musetti also moved into a draw via direct entry through their total rankings.
There are currently 13 spots filled. This includes the defense of Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori of Mixed Doubles Champions, who were given one of the wild cards by the American Tennis Association. They criticized the new format, a two-day abbreviation event that was largely filled out by top single players.
Other teams who have been directly qualified include Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud, Elena Rybakina and Taylor Fritz, Amanda Anisimova and Holger Rune, Belinda Benchic and Alexander Zverev, Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev.
The other wild cards given went to Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz, Madison Keys and Francis Tiafo, Olga Danilovich and Novak Djokovic, Taylor Townsend and Ben Shelton, and Venus Williams and Riley Opelka.
