Western & Southern Open: Emma Raducanu lost against Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-4 to halt her thrilling start to the Western & Southern Open.
The 10th seed from the United Kingdom made a remarkable start to her Cincinnati campaign by defeating Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka, two seasoned WTA Tour players.
However, the number one American proved to be too much of a challenge for the defending US Open champion to overcome.
Pegula established dominance early on in the game by dictating ground play and converting both of her break-point chances to win the opening set.
A second break early in the second gave the eighth-ranked player the boost she required to advance to the quarterfinals.
Sultry Emma Raducanu The clinical tennis Raducanu played in her prior encounters was derailed by Pegula’s technical prowess, as the 19-year-old conceded 21 unforced mistakes in the defeat.
But as she prepares to defend her US Open championship, Raducanu is nevertheless happy that she can swing freely once more and play the same aggressive style of tennis that helped her win her first Grand Slam title last year.
“This week was a great step for me,” she said. “In the past year, it’s probably like the first tournament or like one of the few tournaments that I have actually started going for my shots more.
“This week I kind of just was like, ‘look, I’m just going to try, I don’t care if I make errors like it’s fine, but I’m just going to overhit if anything. I’m pretty proud of how I did this week, and I think it’s a great step to move forward.”
The only way Raducanu could succeed at the highest level, she claimed, was by pushing the ball around. She was sick of merely trying to play defensively. On August 29, the US Open will start.
“It is definitely relieving because I feel like I’m swinging with the same sort of freedom as I probably had, more similar to last year,” she added.
“So it feels really good. I think that I can really take it as a positive week, and I actually feel like I’m heading in a good direction again.”
Madison Keys eliminated world No. 1 Iga Swiatek earlier in the day, and Wimbledon runner-up and fifth seed Ons Jabeur also lost.
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