Emma Raducanu came very close to clinching her first-ever win against a world No. 1 but Aryna Sabalenka stepped up when it mattered the most and didn't allow that to happen in Cincinnati.
After three hours and nine minutes of grueling play, the top-seeded Belarusian earned a narrow 7-6 (3) 4-6 7-6 (5) win over the 2021 US Open champion.
Raducanu was the one who made the better start as she opened a 2-0 first-set lead before blowing it and the opener ultimately went into a tie-break, where Sabalenka won five points in a row to open a 6-1 lead before converting her third set point.
After dropping the first set in a heartbreaking way, the British tennis player bounced back by earning the lone break of the second set in the seventh game and forcing a decider.
In the third set, not a single break was seen. And through the first eight points of the tie-break, the two players were tied to four points apiece. But then, Sabalenka took the next two points to go 6-4 up before realizing her second match point.
In the Cincinnati round-of-16, the three-time Grand Slam champion faces Jessica Bouzas Maneiro.
Sabalenka hopes for a day off after surviving the Raducanu challenge
“Happy to get through this match. I really hope I have a day tomorrow," the world No. 1 said after her win.
When it comes to Raducanu, it was definitely disappointing to come so close and yet fall short of beating Sabalenka.
“It’s always exciting for a player like me to play the very top, because it’s like a fact-finding match. You see where you are in comparison to the top. And I also think form fluctuates so much on the day. So you can lose two and one [6-2, 6-1] one day, you can win or you can make it close the next day, and it can be down to a few points. So I’m excited," the 22-year-old Briton said before the match.
