Emma Raducanu has set her eyes on becoming the No.1 British player in women’s tennis, especially after her commanding victory against four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka. The young athlete easily secured the win with a final scoreline of 6-4, 6-2. She will now advance to the quarter-finals of the Citi Open in Washington.
Raducanu started the match with a commanding aura against Osaka. The Japanese mom-athlete is still trying to get back to her best after having her daughter Shai two years ago. Osaka then made a double fault in the fifth game, and it gave Raducanu her first chance to break. Raducanu stayed steady with her serves and won the first set.
In the second set, Raducanu got another break because Osaka made more mistakes. Osaka had one chance to break Raducanu’s serve at 1-2 but didn’t get through it. Emma Raducanu’s serve improved with the help of her coach, Mark Petchey, and it truly helped her in winning this match.
With her win, Raducanu now reached the quarter-finals in the tournament for the third time, and this season, she hopes to get even further.
“I thought it was going to be a really difficult match. Naomi’s won four slams, she’s been world No 1, won Masters [titles]. She’s so dangerous, and on the hard courts, I think she’s particularly comfortable. I knew I was going to have to play really well and manage my own service games, which I’m really proud of how I did,” Raducanu told Sky Sports.
She added, “I was making some inroads in her service games after I got used to it a little bit. I’m really pleased with how I handled the ball speed and the conditions here in DC.”
The 22-year-old will once again move ahead of Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter to become the highest-ranked British player. She aims to earn a seeded position for the US Open next month. Raducanu will face Maria Sakkari next, a player she has beaten in straight sets in all three of their previous encounters.
On social media, netizens expressed their support to the athlete by saying: “well done, your game is better every day! I want to see you in the final…👏👏👏💕🎾💕”, “i’m so proud of you. The best Strong girl and fighter girl ever. Keep going. You’ve got this. Let’s go my beautiful girl !!!! ❤️”, and “absolutely solid performance. Serve on fire. Brilliant. Keep going 💪”
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