Emma Raducanu’s return to the US Open didn’t go well as the British tennis player is out of the event already after losing to world No. 54 Sofia Kenin in the first round.
In a battle between two Grand Slam Champions, 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin defeated Raducanu 6-1 3-6 6-4, who won the US Open in a historic way three years ago.
While Kenin managed to come out on top, it wasn’t the prettiest match throughout as the American fired 45 winners but also blasted 40 unforced errors. On the other side, Raducanu had 25 winners but also 20 unforced errors.
Going into the US Open, Raducanu was criticized for playing only Washington as many felt it was a bad decision. But the former world No. 10 dismissed that criticism by insisting she knew what she was doing. In the end, it didn’t work out as Raducanu planned.
When the match started, Raducanu was getting dominated by Kenin as the American lost the opening game of the match but then won the next six games to take the opener in style.
At the start of the second set, Raducanu bounced back by earning her first break of the match but her lead was short-lived after Kenin got the break back very quickly. However, Raducanu still managed to force a decider after earning breaks in the fifth and ninth games.
But just when it seemed that Raducanu was on her way to completing a comeback win, Kenin didn’t panic as she earned the lone break of the decider in the fifth game and then just held on to her serve for the remainder of the match to complete her three-set win in two hours and 11 minutes.
What Kenin said after beating Raducanu?
“Your support means so much to me. Thank you for keeping me going… it was a rollercoaster. Emma is such a tough player. She played some great tennis. I’m just happy to have won. It was super close. The third set could’ve gone either way. I tried to handle my nerves. The support from you guys and everyone in the box means a lot,” Kenin said in her on-court interview.
“I try to take one match at a time. Emma won this a few years ago. I feel like it was a great blockbuster first round match. I’m happy to have gone through. We’ll see what happens.”
In her next US Open match, Kenin plays against either Jessica Pegula or Shelby Rogers.
