Raducanu Advances to Semifinals at the D.C. Open
Emma Raducanu achieved her best performance in the semifinals since her surprising US Open title in 2021, by eliminating Maria Sakkari with a score of 6-4, 7-5 on Friday, securing her place among the top four of the D.C. Open. In a hot day, with temperatures exceeding 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius), Raducanu requested a medical timeout while coming back in the last five games of the match, after being down 5-2 in the second set.Leylah Fernandez, finalist against Raducanu at Flushing Meadows four years ago, also advanced to the semifinals of the WTA 500 hard court tournament in Washington. Fernandez secured the victory with a score of 6-4, 7-6 (4) over qualifier Taylor Townsend on Thursday. Fernandez’s next match will be against the 2022 Wimbledon champion, Elena Rybakina, the highest remaining seed in the tournament, or Magdanela Frech, the player who defeated Venus Williams on Thursday night. Raducanu’s opponent in the semifinals on Saturday will be Clara Tauson or Anna Kalinskaya. The first man to reach the semifinals was Corentin Moutet, who defeated Daniil Medvedev with a score of 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. The match was delayed approximately one hour at the end of the third set due to lightning in the area.I’d like to say that I’m pretty good with the heat, for the most part, but today I was really struggling. It was one of the toughest matches, condition-wise, that I’ve ever played… Those points in the second set, I was a little shaky. I’m happy that I was able to close it out, and it was two sets.
Emma Raducanu
