As Emma Raducanu appeared on the member’s balcony for the final few minutes of Carlos Alcaraz’s semi-final at the Queen’s Club, the story of the day had already been written for a prominent section of the media pack.
The rumours that five-time Grand Slam champion Alvaraz has a crush on 2021 US Open champion Raducanu have been peddled by websites that have a job to generate clicks, even if the story they are selling has no credibility.
Yet this was a week that had seen Alcaraz and Raducanu confirmed as mixed doubles partners at the US Open in August and the duo posting a cheeky video together to promote their joint upcoming appearance at Flushing Meadows, the idea that these tennis superstars may be more than just on court partners was inevitably spun by the gossip media.
Alcaraz was asked about Raducanu’s appearance at his Queen’s Club match and hinted he would like to watch her playing at Wimbledon, with the news media who attach themselves to tennis at this time of the year getting all the ammunition they needed to fuel the romance story.
Wimbledon is a magnet for reporters who are accredited to report on their one and only tournament of the year and you won’t see them sitting on Centre Court watching too many matches.
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Instead, they are the reporters who will ask questions in press conferences that will make tennis writers cringe, as they quiz players on the food they like to eat, their choice of clothing and their personal lives.
Venus Williams was infamously asked about the pink bra she was wearing at Wimbledon back in 2015 and her response said much about the unusual nature of the exchange.
“I don’t like talking about bras in press conferences. It’s weird,” she said. “I don’t want to talk about my undergarments. It’s kind of awkward for me. I’ll leave that to you. You can talk about it with your friends. I’m going to pass.”
Venus was absolutely right to take that stance and the reporter asking about her bra should have been ashamed, but it is not uncommon at a Wimbledon press conference that welcomes too many non-tennis media inside the gates at the All England Club.
Female players, especially, can be targeted for inappropriate questions and it will be no surprise if Alcaraz and Raducanu are asked about the prospects of a potential romantic twist in their partnership when they carry out their pre-Wimbledon media duties next weekend.
For the news and gossip media, any suggestion of a romance between two of the biggest names in tennis will be too much to resist and Alcaraz’s comments on Raducanu when their mixed doubles pairing was announced confirmed he is excited to share a court with her.
“She’s gonna be the boss. I’m super excited about it,” said Alcaraz. “I think it’s going to be great. It was an amazing idea for the tournament.
“I’ve known Emma for a really long time ago, so we know each other. I have a really good relationship with her. We are going to enjoy it, for sure.
“I will try to bring my doubles skill. We will try to win, but obviously it’s going to be really, really fun.
“I was thinking that I couldn’t play better unless it was with Emma. I just asked Emma if she wants to play doubles with me. Yeah, I made that special request.”
Raducanu was also asked about the US Open pairing as she prepared to play at the Eastbourne Open and it was clear that she was excited by the prospect.
“I’ve known him for years and actually in Wimbledon 2021, it was like kind of the first time I started getting to know him, and I had a good run there and then also again in the US Open in 2021,” she said.
“And I remember he was always playing the day before me and I was playing like the second day of the round. And I would see him win and then I would have the motivation to win and get myself into that position too.
“And I remember he beat Stef [Tsitsipas] in the third round and it was like a big win, his breakout kind of win on a big stage and it was really cool to kind of, I guess, go through that tournament together and then I kept going through the US Open, but we were staying in touch for the whole time and yeah, it’s nice.
“We have a good relationship still. He’s obviously overtaken me a lot, but it’s nice that we have that from a while ago.
“I think for all of us, we really kind of value those connections that we had from when we were young because when you become a bit more known or a bit more successful, you just find yourself reverting back to people you knew from a young age because you’re like, that’s a real genuine connection because it becomes very busy and you have a lot more friends, but the ones that you’ve known for a long time mean a lot more to you.”
The front page of The Sun newspaper on Tuesday featured an image of Alcaraz and Raducanu as they looked to promote the possibility that a partnership on the tennis court could become more and as the Wimbledon hype machine builds, these stories are certain to be pushed time and again by a non-tennis media who thrive on controversy and gossip.
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