Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz underlined their hard court credentials ahead of the US Open with victories over Jasmine Paolini and Jannik Sinner respectively in the women's and men's singles tournaments at the Cincinnati Open.

The No. 1-ranked Sinner, the defending champion in singles at Flushing Meadows, was supposed to compete in mixed doubles with Katerina Siniakova.

Swiatek and Ruud will meet top seeds Jessica Pegula of the United States and Britain’s Jack Draper in the semi-finals. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

After a rough start to the year, Świątek (+310) is now basically neck and neck odds-wise with Sabalenka (+290), who is, again, the defending US Open champion. If anyone can unseat Sabalenka, it sure feels like Świątek is the most likely to do it.

Big names fell early and unexpected teams broke through to steal the spotlight on Day 1 of U.S. Open mixed doubles play, headlining an electric opener packed with upsets and standout performances.

The new, and controversial, US Open mixed doubles event is underway with big names and star players set to headline the tournament. Among them are Carlos Alcaraz, fresh from his win at the Cincinnati Open,

World number one Sinner - who is due to play in the US Open’s revamped mixed doubles tournament on Tuesday - conceded defeat to Alcaraz on Monday after going 5-0 down in the first set

Traditional doubles specialists like the Italian combo were among the biggest critics of the changes, with a format that feels more like an exhibition than one worthy of a Grand S