Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz spark romance rumours ahead of US Open

Tennis stars Carlos Alcaraz and Emma Raducanu are teaming up at the US Open. Photos / Photosport; NZME

It has all the ingredients of a Richard Curtis summer hit: two remarkably good-looking leads in Emma Raducanu and Carlos Alcaraz (she of the magazine covers, he of the bullet-speed aces), a “meet-cute” over the tennis nets, a photogenic London setting – and just enough will-they-won’t-they ambiguity to make social media lose its mind.

Sadly for Curtis fans, there hasn’t yet been a declaration of love in the rain or a madcap race through Heathrow for either of the tennis stars – in fact there hasn’t been a public confirmation of anything other than friendship. But that hasn’t stopped the gossip in the tennis world.

Here’s what we know. The pair, both 22, have joined forces for a new US Open event in August, where major stars play mixed doubles for a US$1 million prize a week before the main championship. Alcaraz, world No 2 and golden retriever in human form, let it slip in an interview earlier this summer that it was he who asked the British star if she would like to play with him, saying: “We have a really good relationship. I have known her for a long time.”

He also joked that it took her a while to get back to him – although Raducanu later set the record straight, telling the BBC (somewhat coyly), “Yes, he asked me earlier on in the year and I was very surprised and honoured and obviously excited. Then I went through the formality of asking my coach, but of course I was going to say yes.”

Already, this was enough to raise eyebrows. “It suggests at the very least that he likes her,” says one tennis insider. “He probably has a crush on her as it is hard to see why else he would ask her to play with him when he is No 2 and she is No 38, and he could have easily got a player in the top five.

“And look, I understand why he would: she is charming and beautiful, and definitely the best-looking tennis player at the moment. When she turns up to a conference, people who haven’t seen her in the flesh before almost fall off their chairs. She completely glows.”

Emma Raducanu celebrates winning a match at the ASB Classic in Auckland. Photo / Photosport

Then, the rumour mill went full Jilly Cooper when Raducanu was seen cheering on the Spanish star at Queen’s last weekend, supporting him from the stands on both Thursday and Saturday, the day before he won the competition. “I saw some really cool drop volleys,” said Raducanu of the match, “and I was like: ‘Yes, let’s save some of that!’ But he’s got plenty of magic to bring to New York.”

Perhaps it was the sunshine, the itsy-bitsy tennis shorts and the leafy west London setting, but onlookers started acting like excitable teenagers, with one person telling The Sun: “It wasn’t just the tennis lot who were talking about it. People who worked for the BBC and other broadcasters were all gossiping about it.”

In a similarly breathless tone, another added, “He was apparently seen at her hotel last week and on Thursday and Saturday, when Emma went to support him, Emma’s car arrived just minutes after Carlos got to Queen’s with his team. Inside, they were seen laughing and joking with one another. They seem very happy and relaxed with each other.”

At this point, it is still just whispers, wishful thinking and a lot of Instagram likes (yes, Alcaraz has double-tapped on most of Raducanu’s posts this year). Until blurry paparazzi shots emerge of the two of them boarding a plane to Alcaraz’s home town of Alicante, canoodling behind the umpire’s chair on Centre Court or sharing a Pimm’s on Henman Hill, we technically have to stick to “just friends”.

Luckily, they don’t seem particularly perturbed by the rumours. “They both seem to be having a lot of fun,” says Stuart Brumfitt, the editor of tennis magazine Bagel. “When they’re talking about each other, they have these massive grins on their faces, so either they’re in love or in on the joke and finding it really funny.”

Perhaps because they go way back. They first met playing tennis as children, but it was Wimbledon 2021 that brought them closer. “He was always playing the day before me,” said Raducanu. “I would see him win and then I would have motivation to win and get myself into that position too. It was really cool to go through that tournament together, and then I kept going through the US Open, we stayed in touch the whole time.”

That summer, she won the US Open; a year later, he followed suit. Although this is where their paths diverge. Since then, Alcaraz has soared, adding five grand slam wins to his name, including a recent extraordinary comeback at the French Open when he clawed back the championship title after losing the first two sets of the final.

Raducanu, meanwhile, has had a tougher run, struggling with injuries and the pressure of post-fairytale, “hope of Britain” fame (albeit while racking up more luxury brand partnerships than tennis wins).

Alcaraz, world number two, asked Raducanu to partner with him for the $1 million prize event. Photo / Photosport

If they are dating, does the discrepancy open the door to professional jealousy? There is precedent for this: Chris Evert and John Lloyd’s marriage famously struggled under the weight of her superior career.

“I don’t think so,” says Telegraph tennis correspondent Simon Briggs. “Of course, jealousy exists in couples on the tennis circuit, but [Raducanu] has such a big world view that I don’t think she sees tennis success as the be-all and end-all. I think she’d be all right dating someone more successful than her.”

As for their respective personalities – well, they do say opposites attract. “Carlos is sweet, but he doesn’t have an awful lot of chat,” says one tennis correspondent. “In general, he seems a bit of a homebody and he doesn’t have the expansive personality you get in someone like Federer.”

Brumfitt, who profiled Alcaraz recently, adds: “Carlos is really lovely, I would describe him as the dream son: he’s just a good boy, a family man who says things like his mum’s cooking is the best in the world, and holds open doors for strangers.”

As for Raducanu, well, she’s definitely the one with the Julia Roberts charm, if not quite the Julia Roberts CV. “When we sit down with her, she is almost always brilliant,” says Brumfitt. “Unlike a lot of these stars, she didn’t spend all her formative years cloistered away on a tennis court, so she knows how to communicate.

“Alcaraz is very nice with us, but not necessarily surprising or interesting, just a normal bloke from a small town in Spain, whereas she talks about one day going to Oxford University, and is fizzing with ideas about everything and everyone.”

Brumfitt adds that both stars are known for having kept some level of normality, despite their fame. “It’s quite impressive,” he says. “When Emma is laughing and chatting, she seems like any other south London girl.”

Still, it can’t be easy, not least because the professional tennis circuit makes the cut-throat Manhattan dating scene look like a relaxing place to find a partner. Yes, tennis is full of beautiful under-35s at the peak of physical fitness and with plenty of money in the bank, but they also live on a brutal schedule where they travel for around 40 weeks a year. The result is that most people are either married, dating their coach or emotionally available only on brief holidays between tournaments.

Male stars, at least, have plenty of opportunities for sex. “Tennis fans inundate them with nudes on Instagram and will happily come and meet them in their hotel rooms – but if they want a girlfriend, they have to find someone who will travel the world with them,” says Briggs. This is perfectly possible: Morgan Riddle, who is going out with American tennis star Taylor Fritz, has turned her role as tennis-tour WAG into a full-blown influencer career.

For women, however, the set-up is more complicated. “How many men will give up their careers to travel to tennis tournaments with you? It’s just not as socially accepted, so they’re in a difficult situation, and often they end up sleeping with a member of their own entourage,” says Briggs.

As for this duo, very few rumours have come to light about the Spaniard’s dating history, while Raducanu has previously been linked to Carlo Agostinelli (who looks surprisingly similar to Alcaraz), former Harrow head boy and son of a private equity magnate, and Benjamin Heynold, a long-time friend with whom she was seen celebrating in Times Square after her historic US Open win.

For now, Raducanu and Alcaraz have a busy summer ahead. At Eastbourne today, during one of Raducanu’s matches, cries of “Where’s Carlos?” could be heard from the stands. So expect the rumour mill to go into overdrive once the crucial mixed doubles tournament in New York begins.

If they so much as smile at each other in between games, thousands of tennis-loving Mrs Bennets will start planning the wedding. And if, after one of them hits the winning shot, they joyfully embrace on the court before taking home $1m in prize money? Well, Curtis will have to start writing the script for his next film immediately.