Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu on Thursday advanced to the quarter-finals of the Citi Open, refusing to wilt after a marathon match in sweltering heat.
The English 19-year-old outlasted Colombia’s Camila Osorio 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) after 2 hours, 50 minutes for a gritty victory in the WTA’s longest two-set main draw match of the year.
“It has got to be one of the most physical matches I’ve ever played,” Raducanu said. “It was a pretty monumental effort to really get through that. I’m just really pleased and proud of how I dug in when it really mattered. It just gives you a lot of confidence coming through a match like that. Physically, I’m pretty pleased with how I held up in that match. Looking forward to going again.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Raducanu advanced to a quarter-final against Liudmila Samsonova, who rallied past Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
It will be only Raducanu’s third quarter-final since her amazing Grand Slam title run last year in New York, having reached the last eight in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, in October last year and Stuttgart, Germany, in April.
She has yet to reach a semi-final since taking the trophy in September last year at Flushing Meadows.
“Sometimes in your career you feel like everything is automatic, you can go for whatever shot you want and it’s going to land,” Raducanu said. “Those weeks don’t come by very often. I’ve just accepted I’m not going to feel like that every week.”
Osorio trailed Raducanu 3-0, but broke back in a 13-minute seventh game and broke again to lead 5-4, then had three double faults serving for the first set, one on set point, and Raducanu broke back.
In the first tiebreaker, Osorio won five of six points, the last when Raducanu double faulted, to seize a 5-3 edge, but Raducanu won the next four points, the final three with forehand winners, to capture the set.
“Mentally, I’m really proud of how I’m doing right now,” Raducanu said.
In the second set, Raducanu broke with a forehand volley winner for a 2-1 lead, but needed treatment for blisters on her left foot and Osario battled back to force a tiebreaker.
Raducanu took five of the final seven points for the triumph, the last with a service winner.
“I most enjoy the challenge of continuously coming back and getting back up, getting yourself out of rock bottom a lot of times repetitively,” Raducanu said. “It’s a fun challenge and I’ve twisted my perception of it. I’m not viewing it as a negative thing anymore. The reward that you feel after a win, knowing you’ve come through that, it means a lot more.”
In the men’s singles, Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios of Australia led fourth seed Reilly Opelka of the US 7-6 (7/1), 2-1 when evening rain wiped out play for the rest of the day.
Bulgarian fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov led Sebastian Korda of the US 6-4 when the storms began.
Hometown hero and 10th seed Frances Tiafoe and eighth seed Botic van de Zandschulp were level, the Dutchman winning the first set 6-4 and Tiafoe taking the second 6-2, when play was suspended.
Top seed Andrey Rublev’s third-round match against US 13th seed Maxime Cressy and Danish ninth seed Holger Rune’s match against US wild-card J.J. Wolf were delayed until yesterday, with the winners meeting in a later afternoon quarter-final.
British 16th seed Daniel Evans advanced to the last eight when US third seed Taylor Fritz retired with the Englishman leading 3-6, 7-6 (8/6), 4-1.
Next up for Evans is world No. 96 Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan, who edged seventh seed Karen Khachanov 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (7/1).
Nishioka is 4-0 all-time against Evans, including a 2019 first-round win in Washington, a 2020 Australian Open second-round victory and a win in Miami in March.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and