Jack Draper addressed the criticism he faced for taking the mixed doubles event at the 2025
US Open too seriously.
The new mixed doubles event got underway in New York on Tuesday. Some of the world's best singles players competed in this mixed doubles format, which has drawn criticism due to the limited number of purely doubles pairings in the draw, with Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori being the only such team.
Some singles players see it as an exhibition, and even Carlos Alcaraz has said multiple times that
he wants to use the event as preparation. He also faced backlash for those comments, but didn't get to prepare too much.
In the first round of the tournament, Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu took on Draper and
Jessica Pegula, with the British-American duo winning in two sets 4-2, 4-2 (the event is played in the best-of-three first-to-four games sets).
Draper was the best player on the court, and he didn't shy away from firing the balls at Raducanu. He did what was needed to win the match, quite clearly taking it very seriously.
In the second round, Draper didn't change his approach one bit, this time beating Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev 4-1, 4-1. The British player was clearly locked in, and Pegula chose the same approach.
However, some of the fans were not impressed by how seriously Draper took the competition. Some see it as an exhibition event, but even if the Brit also calls it that, he doesn't see any issue with being "locked in."
"Yeah, it would mean a lot. Obviously it is like a bit of an exhibition format. It's nice to play with someone. Have a bit of fun with it. I don't know. I like winning. It's good to win, right? I'm hearing that a lot, it's a bit of an exhibition, a bit of fun, why am I so locked in. It's a good opportunity to play, do well, get a lot of points in before next week, yeah. Like, I'm enjoying being locked in. I don't know why it's a crime to be locked in."
Draper and Pegula explain why they are "the same"
Draper and Pegula, like some other mixed doubles pairings at the event, didn't know each other too well before the tournament this year. However, they quickly found out that they are very similar, as they don't like talking to others, which Draper explained.
"We're both the same a little bit. I've seen you around before. She is always locked in, got her headphones in. I'm the same. I don't think we like people. We don't talk to them (smiling). When we're around the tour, yeah, I just see her locked in on her headphones."
Pegula also mentioned how she always wears her headphones, saying that she does so, so she doesn't have to talk to the other player when she doesn't want to.
"That's one thing you said. I was like, How do you... He's like, I've seen you just always with your headphones on. I'm like, Yeah, because I don't want to talk to anybody (laughter)."
Draper and Pegula will now continue their mixed doubles charge in the semi-finals of the tournament, taking on Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud for a spot in the final.