What Emma Raducanu has been spotted doing in Washington which is just like when she won the US Open in 2021

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Emma Raducanu has recently shown some positive signs that she is moving back towards the player that won the US Open.

Raducanu stunned the world when she won the US Open as a qualifier in 2021, but has since struggled with injuries and a loss in form.

However, the Briton has been able to maintain her fitness more this year, with Raducanu now closing in on a seeded ranking for the US Open in 2025.

Beginning her North American hard court swing at the Washington Open, where Raducanu is also playing doubles, she made an impressive start in singles with a straight sets victory over seventh seed Marta Kostyuk.

Andrea Petkovic notices Emma Raducanu doing something similar to when she won the US Open

Raducanu has been coached by Mark Petchey since the Miami Open, with the partnership producing the 22-year-old’s best results this year.

However, after reaching the third round at Wimbledon, Raducanu revealed that Petchey’s media commitments could make things difficult going forward.

Petchey is not with Raducanu for the Washington Open this week, but former top 10 player Andrea Petkovic has noticed that the work they have done together is paying off.

When speaking on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, Petkovic pointed out that Raducanu is now stepping forward into the court more and claimed that this reminded her of how she played in her run to the US Open title in 2021.

“Emma has been playing really well since Mark Petchey came on her team in Miami,” said Petkovic. “They have been together now for a few months since the Miami Open, she played great there.

“She played fantastic at Wimbledon, she had a really tough draw. She played Vondrousova in the second round. She played a young wildcard in the first round, and then played Sabalenka and had a couple of set points in the first set, so really had a shot of winning at least a set against the world number one.

“I think she is playing really well and that was a good win against Marta Kostyuk. She had lost to her in Madrid in the altitude earlier this year, so I think she looks in a really good spot right now and has improved.

“She is back on the line, I thought at the US Open she won because she was so much up on the baseline and taking the balls and her returns so early.

“In the years between you could see her being a bit too far behind the baseline. Now she is right back on it in Washington. She likes to play in Washington, we have seen her play well there in her time.”

Emma Raducanu return statistics in Washington D.C. vs the 2021 US Open final

Raducanu’s return has received a lot of praise in recent months, with it even causing world number one Aryna Sabalenka problems at Wimbledon.

The current world number 46 was particularly effective on her second serve return against Kostyuk in her first round win at the Washington Open, as she won over half of her points on it.

This is even higher than when she played Leylah Fernandez in the US Open final, and she was also more clinical on break points in her latest win.

The return will need to be firing in her next match, as Raducanu takes on Naomi Osaka for a place in the Washington Open quarterfinals.

Raducanu is scheduled to play two matches on Thursday, July 24, as she also has a doubles quarterfinal to play alongside Elena Rybakina.