Western and Southern Open: Emma Raducanu Defeats Victoria Azarenka in Cincinnati
Western and Southern Open: Emma Raducanu Defeats Victoria Azarenka in Cincinnati: Raducanu is dedicated to her preparations for the forthcoming defense of her US Open title with a 6-0 6-2 win in Cincinnati.
Raducanu will be facing Jessica Pegula next.
The Briton is ranked 13th in the world. She will be meeting the American seventh seed in the last 16 of the Western and Southern Open.
“I was playing a great match for sure and to play Vika I had to stay focused throughout,” said Raducanu. She was successful in beating 22nd-ranked Azarenka to earn her first top-30 win since last year’s US Open.
Less than 16 hours after she dumped Serena Williams out of the Western and Southern Open with a 6-4 6-0 victory she displayed her dominant side again with a 6-0 6-2 win in just over an hour.
Both of her opponents will be ending their careers soon. The manner of victory for Raducanu reinforced her strength and the way she played with confidence and with control.
“In the second set, I could feel the important moments and a couple of turning points that could have made the second set really difficult.”
“I am really pleased with how I dug in and serving it out in that last game was really difficult.”
“It was another honor to play Vika, she has won so many championships and slams, so it was a great honor to be out here.”
“I have realized in the last year, people are going to talk about whatever you do and maybe things I do are more amplified because of my situation.”
“I just learned to really zone in internally and today and yesterday, I don’t really show any emotion. I did not let myself get too high or too low and that definitely helped.”
Having been ruthless in defeating Williams on Tuesday night, Raducanu quickly found her groove and overthrew a wayward Azarenka.
The teenager brought her powerful A-game to display and won the first set in just 26 minutes.
She hit a flurry of great shots and allowed Azarenka just 13 points as she racked up a second successive bagel.
Azarenka was error-prone and the US Open champion reeled off four more games to move within a touch of victory.
The Belarusian was the champion of this tournament in 2020 when it was played on the site of the US Open. But she finally registered her first game at the 11th attempt when she held serve.
There was to be no spectacular comeback because the Brit remained solid and raced to victory in no time.
Raducanu is impressive but has tougher tests ahead
Raducanu stunned the sporting world with her unexpected triumph in New York in 2021. She went on to become the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title. This was commendable as it was only her fourth senior tournament.
The victory propelled the little-known teenager into overnight global superstardom. But, she has since had a fair share of difficulties often encountered by young players in their first full season on the WTA Tour.
Regularly hampered and hindered by fitness issues in 2022 as she adjusts to the rigors of the senior tour, Raducanu landed in Cincinnati with a record of 11 wins and 14 losses this season.
But with her fearless and accurate groundstrokes, she displayed a similar level in the WTA 1000 event to the one leading to her success at Flushing Meadows.
Pegula can provide a sterner test and a more accurate assessment of Raducanu’s current level than Williams or Azarenka.
With the 23-time major champion Williams, the teenager clinically took advantage of the 40-year-old’s lack of sharpness. She hit 14 winners and made just one unforced error in a ruthless victory.
After that night session, Raducanu returned to Cincinnati’s center court to play against 33-year-old Azarenka. Raducanu produced another dominant tennis display.
The forehand is a potent weapon.