'It’ll be fun to get out there with her': Jack Draper excited for US Open mixed doubles with Zheng Qinwen

Jack Draper spoke about how his mixed doubles partnership with Zheng Qinwen came together for the US Open. The World No. 6 is competing this week at the Queen’s Club Championships, the same tournament where the Chinese star reached the semifinals just a week ago during the women's edition.

One of the most eye-catching news items this week was the announcement of the mixed doubles pairs for the US Open. With a new format, several top singles players from both tours will team up, forming exciting duos such as Carlos Alcaraz with Emma Raducanu, Jannik Sinner with Emma Navarro, and Naomi Osaka with Nick Kyrgios. Among the most surprising partnerships is the pairing of World No. 6 Draper with World No. 4 Zheng Qinwen.

The two will make their debut as a team competing for the one-million-dollar prize in this high-stakes mixed doubles event held during the tournament’s Fan Week—the week leading up to the start of the men’s and women’s singles main draws. While many stars are using this event as extra match practice ahead of the year’s final Grand Slam, the prize money has ensured it will be a highly competitive affair.

Draper and Zheng are among the favourites, with the second-highest combined ranking—only behind Sinner/Navarro. “Yeah, I'll definitely play. I think it's a good format for the players to get prepared for the US Open, having a shot at playing with another top player,” Draper said when asked about his mixed doubles debut.

“Qinwen I know from the tour. I’ve seen her around. Obviously, she’s a great player and has a really good game," the world No. 6 added. “I think it’ll be fun to get out there and play with her and see how we get on. Yeah, I think it was me who messaged through IMG. She's with IMG as well. It was nice to get that sort of together and let’s see how we get on.”

This week, Draper is competing at Queen’s, where he reached the quarterfinals. After comfortably defeating Jenson Brooksby in the opening round, he had to dig deep against Alexei Popyrin in the round of 16, surviving a dramatic third-set tie-break to win 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(5). The 2025 Indian Wells champion will face American Brandon Nakashima on Friday.