Emma Raducanu breaks silence as 'refusal' to hug Jack Draper goes viral after US Open match

British tennis player Emma Raducanu has broken her silence following her and Carlos Alcaraz’s mixed doubles round of 16 defeat at the US Open on Tuesday.

Raducanu, 22, and her mixed doubles partner Alcaraz, also 22, fell to a 4-2, 4-2 defeat against fellow Brit Jack Draper and his teammate Jessica Pegula in the revamped competition.

Pegula, 31, and Draper, 23, then went on to defeat Daniil Medvedev and Mirra Andreeva 4-1, 4-1 in the quarter-finals to set up a semi-final clash against Iga Swiatek and Casper Ruud on Thursday.

However, despite the high-class tennis on display during Raducanu and Alcaraz’s match, fans noticed that the 2021 US Open women’s singles winner did not appear to hug Draper, but she did hug Pegula.

However, it must be noted that the pair did shake hands and briefly exchange what appeared to be warm words.

Nonetheless, fans still suggested several theories on social media.

One fan wrote: "He went hard after her the whole match and they both knew it."

A second said: "He targeted her like he was mad at her."

Another added: "For me, both Jessica and Draper were clearly targeting Raducanu and so what?"

Despite the fan theories, there is no suggestion that there is any feud between the British players.

Then on Wednesday, Raducanu broke her silence with a social media post which included several photographs of her in action from the previous night with the caption “De locos!! @carlitosalcarazz. Gracias partner, had so much fun.”

Alcaraz replied: “Still waiting for those Spanish words… Thank you, partner.”

Of course, fans also reacted to this as the pair were previously rumoured to be dating, however, Raducanu denied this and explained the duo were just “friends” earlier this summer.

Speaking about the rumours during an interview with The Guardian in July, she said: “I guess it [rumours] comes with the territory, people being so curious. I think they’re more curious about this news than any tennis results and tennis news. But I just keep to myself, my private life to one side. It’s always funny when people try to find something out, but I try not to read into it so much.”