Emma Raducanu was unable to cross the final hurdle and beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open.
Raducanu was playing her first tournament with new coach, Francisco Roig, at the Cincinnati Open.
While this partnership appears to be going well so far, Roig actually got Raducanu into some trouble in her match against Sabalenka.
That was not the only situation that troubled Raducanu, who has now been told exactly what cost her the match against Sabalenka.
Rennae Stubbs pinpoints moment that cost Emma Raducanu the match against Aryna Sabalenka
Sabalenka beat Raducanu, 7-6(3) 4-6 7-6(5), in a match that could only be decided by the barest of margins.
Someone who was watching the match intently was former doubles world number one Rennae Stubbs, who actually believes Raducanu cost herself the match with one point.
When she was 3-2 down in the deciding set tie-break, Raducanu had an opportunity to hit an approach forehand for a winner, but instead elected to hit it towards Sabalenka who subsequently passed the Brit.
This point is what Stubbs believes cost Raducanu, as Sabalenka went on to make WTA history.
Stubbs wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter), “Man one wrong choice of foreheads (forehand) in that TB (tie-break) cost Emma. So close! Great serving from Aryna in the end.”
Despite finding her best tennis in the biggest moments, it was a far from perfect performance from the world number one.
Sabalenka hit 72 unforced errors in total, something that Stubbs simply could not understand.
She said in another social media post, “The errors that Sabalenka makes sometimes is just so confusing.”
What is next for Emma Raducanu?
Raducanu was on the wrong side of the result against Sabalenka once again, but there are continued positive signs for the former US Open champion.
The gripping match between the two Grand Slam champions was even watched by 18-time major winner Chris Evert, who took to social media herself to praise Raducanu and Sabalenka’s efforts.
Raducanu would have hoped to become seeded for the US Open, but her status is still unclear with players still able to overtake her.
After the withdrawals of both Paula Badosa and Qinwen Zheng from the US Open, the cut-off for the 32 seeded positions is now down to the 34th ranked player.
In the live WTA rankings that player is currently Raducanu, but she can still be overtaken by other names still remaining in the Cincinnati Open draw.
What is confirmed is that next Raducanu will play with Carlos Alcaraz at the US Open mixed doubles event, which gets underway on Tuesday, August 19.
Then all eyes will be on the singles event, where Raducanu will look to win her first match in New York since lifting the title four years ago.
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