ATP Tour

Draper & Pegula oust Alcaraz & Raducanu, then storm into US Open semis

Jack Draper and Jessica Pegula did not become partners for the US Open mixed doubles event until their original partners — in Draper's case, two of them — withdrew. But that proved to cause few problems for the top seeds Tuesday.

Draper and Pegula ousted fans' favourites Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu 4-2, 4-2 and then defeated Mirra Andreeva and Daniil Medvedev 4-1, 4-1 to make the semi-finals.

"It feels great," Pegula said. "We're really excited to be able to close it out. We played against really good players, got two wins today and this has been a lot of fun, so we're excited to be here tomorrow."

They will next face third seeds Casper Ruud and Iga Swiatek, who earned two dominant victories of their own earlier in the day.

On the other half of the draw, Danielle Collins and Christian Harrison took full advantage of their last-minute opportunity. The Americans, who entered the draw at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday following Katerina Siniakova and Jannik Sinner's withdrawal, also advanced to the last four.

Collins and Harrison took out Belinda Bencic and Alexander Zverev 4-0, 5-3 and then squeaked past fellow Americans Ben Shelton and Taylor Townsend 4-1, 5-4(2).

"We go way back. She's one of my closest friends in tennis. I have a good idea what her strengths and weaknesses are. She doesn't really have any weaknesses," Harrison said. "She didn't miss too many balls. She made it easy for me to sit back and watch today.

"Honestly, as we got in, [it] has become such a big deal. So many people started texting even before we played the match. You could start to feel the magnitude."

The home favourites will next play defending champions Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, who did not drop a set, either. There was not a three-set match Tuesday.

The semi-finals and doubles will take place Wednesday inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the order of play to be confirmed.