Emma Raducanu beats Naomi Osaka at the D.C. Open
In an exciting match at the D.C. Open, Emma Raducanu demonstrated her dominance by defeating Naomi Osaka, in their first professional encounter, with a score of 6-4 and 6-2. The match, which brought together two former US Open champions, kept fans on the edge of their seats.Raducanu, who was the first tennis player to qualify and win a Grand Slam title in New York in 2021, managed to save the only two break points she faced and managed to break Osaka’s serve on three occasions.“I felt like I had a little bit extra,” Raducanu commented. “It’s a match that I think a lot of people were talking about beforehand. I knew that before the match, but I actually like these types of matchups, where you’re playing against a great opponent. A lot of people have their eyes on the match. They like it. I enjoy it. I’m happy with how I was able to play against a four-time Grand Slam champion.”
Emma Raducanu
Osaka, for her part, suffered the consequences of seven double faults.“I am serving better, and that helps a lot. I have always returned quite well, but the element of just when I serve well, it adds another dimension to my game,” Raducanu explained. “I can start points better and look for my forehand and get it into play a little bit more and then dictate.”
Emma Raducanu
Raducanu, currently ranked number 46, will face Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals, after Sakkari eliminated Emma Navarro, the second seed, on Wednesday. In other notable results from Thursday, top seed Jessica Pegula was defeated by Leylah Fernandez with a score of 6-3, 1-6, and 7-5. In addition, Venus Williams’ attempt to achieve her first winning streak since 2019 ended with a loss to Magdalena Frech, with a result of 6-2 and 6-2. Among the men who advanced are Taylor Fritz (No. 1), Ben Shelton (No. 4), Frances Tiafoe (No. 6), Alex De Minaur (No. 7), Daniil Medvedev (No. 8), Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (No. 12), and Brandon Nakashima (No. 14).“I feel like from the baseline I was doing pretty well,” Osaka said, who won the US Open and Australian Open twice each. “I think there are certain situations where she returned one more ball and I was just like staring and waiting.”
Naomi Osaka
