“I told her to not get p***d”: Jannik Sinner’s hilarious first meeting with US Open mixed doubles partner Emma Navarro

Italy’s Jannik Sinner has shared interesting details about how he ended up as a partner of Emma Navarro for the US Open mixed doubles event. The fourth and last Grand Slam of the year will be played in two parts in August this year.

The first part of the competition will feature the mixed doubles event, which will take place on the 19th and 20th, while the rest of the competition will begin on August 24. The mixed doubles event, which will be a stand-alone event for the first time, will have prize money worth $1 million to be shared between the winning pair. Therefore, it was no surprise to see all the big-name players agreeing to take part in the competition this year.

One of the pairs will feature the men’s world number one Sinner teaming up with the women’s world number nine Navarro. Sinner, who is in London to participate in Wimbledon, spoke to the media ahead of the competition and shared details about how he ended up becoming Navarro's partner. Sinner stated that he had never met or texted Navarro before agreeing to become his partner. Sinner also revealed that he finally met Navarro while preparing for Wimbledon, where he asked her not to get ‘pissed’ with his volleys as he struggles while playing in doubles.

“It was very unexpected, to be honest,” said Sinner when he was asked about his US Open mixed doubles partnership with Navarro. “Look, I just met her yesterday for the first time. We never talked. We never texted to each other. It's actually a funny story. The tournament, they wanted us to kind of play together because certain teams were already set up. The choice was not big, but I'm very happy to play with Emma. I told her already to (not) get pissed with me with my very good volleys. Doubles, I struggle.”