Emma Raducanu learned what Jessica Pegula thought of her journey after emotional reaction

Jessica Pegula has already made her feelings clear on Emma Raducanu as the tennis stars prepare to clash in the mixed doubles at the US Open. Raducanu will team up with close friend Carlos Alcaraz, while Pegula has joined forces with another British ace, Jack Draper, after their original partners, Paula Badosa and Tommy Paul, withdrew.

With both Pegula and Draper inside the top five in the singles rankings, the pair have been handed the top seeding and will kick off their campaign against the wildcard duo of Raducanu and Alcaraz, despite the Spaniard's tight turnaround time after the final of the Cincinnati Open.The mixed doubles has been moved to before the main tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday, with £750,000 in prize money at stake for the winners of the 16-pair event. Flushing Meadows in New York is, of course, the scene of Raducanu's momentous US Open triumph in 2021, when she shocked the world by winning the tournament as an unseeded 18-year-old.

Since then, it hasn't been plain sailing for the now 22-year-old, who struggled with form, injury and expectation over the previous four years and has had a multitude of coaches. Therefore, her victory over top-10 player Emma Navarro at the Miami Open earlier this year was seen as something of a watershed moment.

The victory's importance to Raducanu was clear as she let out an emotional reaction after defeating Navarro 7-6(8), 2-6, 7-6(3). Due next on court, Pegula watched parts of that match and totally understood why the victory meant so much to Raducanu after what she had been through.

"When she's playing at a top level, she belongs with the top players," said the American. "I just think she struggled a little bit with injuries.

"It's tough nowadays, the depth is so good. If you can't really rack in those matches and play a lot and get those wins under your belt, it can be really difficult to keep that confidence.

"I can understand why she was probably a little emotional. Winning two matches at a WTA 1000, beating a top 10 player - that's massive. Sometimes it takes a physical and mental battle to get through that.

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"And in that moment, you're thinking, 'My gosh, how am I going to do this? Not again?' For her to come back in the third and win the tiebreaker. I'm sure she feels like there's a monkey off her back."

Since then, Raducanu has performed admirably at Wimbledon, pushing world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka hard in a third-round defeat. Earlier this month, she took a set off Sabalenka in a battling defeat at the Cincinnati Open. She also changed coaches again, enlisting the help of Francis Roig, a key figure in Rafael Nadal's coaching set-up.