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Feliciano Lopez revealed that he was forced to turn down Carlos Alcaraz for his new Sky Sports job at the US Open. The world No 1 wanted to practice with the retired Spanish star ahead of his first-round match on Tuesday but had to turn to Cameron Norrie when Lopez rejected him.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz is preparing to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time in his young career at the US Open. The top seed begins his campaign in Tuesday’s night session slot against Dominik Koepfer, and the 20-year-old has been seeking out a left-handed practice partner ahead of the match.<\/p>\n
But he wasn’t able to turn to compatriot Lopez for a lefty hitting partner as the former world No 12 is part of Sky Sports’ new coverage of the US Open in the UK and rejected Alcaraz’s request. “Everything is great so far,” the 41-year-old told Sky from the practice courts at the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Centre.<\/p>\n
“I was asked to be a hitting partner of Carlitos, he\u2019s here a few metres away. I\u00a0said, ‘Sorry I\u2019m so busy with Sky Sports I\u2019m not going to be your hitting partner today.'”<\/p>\n
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Just in <\/strong> US Open star makes petulant threat to Grand Slam chiefs after smashing racket[LATEST] <\/strong><\/p>\n It meant that Alcaraz had to seek out another left-hander to hit with, and ended up turning to British No 1 Norrie. \u201cI love that, you turned down Carlitos for Sky,\u201d Gigi Salmon responded to Lopez. \u201cSo in your absence, he practised with Cam Norrie instead I believe?\u201d<\/p>\n And Lopez explained that it was a regular occurrence for players to try and hit with him when they were about to face a left-handed opponent. He added: “Yeah, he was looking for a lefty, he\u2019s playing tomorrow against the German guy Koepfer so this is normal when you play a lefty.<\/p>\n We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/72\/590x\/secondary\/4931376.jpg?r=1693245074216\")
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