Emma Raducanu has been granted a timely US Open boost just ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year. During what has been a pretty positive summer for the Brit, Raducanu is eyeing up a strong end to 2025 – but faces yet another Aryna Sabalenka showdown.
Despite reaching the semi-final of the Washington Open, Raducanu slipped six places in the world rankings following the Canadian Open. However, the 2021 US Open winner has already clawed back five of those six places with her exploits at the Cincinnati Masters so far.
All it took was a straight-sets win over Olga Danilovic in her opening match of the WTA 1000 event to earn a welcome jump up the leaderboard to world No.34. It couldn’t have come at a better time for Raducanu, given the cut-off point for US Open seedings is the Cincinnati Masters itself.
As it stands, she is two places away from being a seeded player but would get into the seeds if two rivals withdraw. But, hopes of building on her current position and climbing the table even further have been halted, given world No.1 and reigning champion Sabalenka is up next. The two popular members of the WTA Tour are no strangers to each other, with Sabalenka having taken on Raducanu twice before.
The most recent encounter came at this year’s Wimbledon, when Sabalenka despatched Raducanu 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 during the pair’s third-round tie. While Raducanu might’ve lost in straight sets, the Canadian-born star earned plenty of plaudits for her fighting spirit, with Sabalenka herself quick to praise the 22-year-old.
It was little consolation to Raducanu though, as she was left devastated by the defeat, revealing it was “very difficult to take”. Speaking last month, she said: “It is very difficult to take right now. It’s hard to take a loss like that but at the same time I’ve pushed Aryna, who is number one and a great champion, so I have to be proud.”
The duo’s only previous meeting came at last year’s Indian Wells, when Raducanu was entered into the competition as a wildcard. That match was also won straight by Sabalenka, meaning Raducanu is yet to win a set against the Belarusian.
Commenting ahead of their upcoming match-up, Raducanu said: “I’m really building some momentum. I’m really happy with how I’ve stayed pretty consistent over the last few months. I still feel like there’s a long way to go but just working hard behind the scenes, putting a lot of hours in and hoping I can trust in that.”
Content Source: www.express.co.uk