Emma Raducanu has made a strong start in New York, as she now prepares for her third-round match.
In round one, Raducanu defeated Ena Shibahara in straight sets 6-1, 6-2 on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Producing a similarly dominant performance in the second round, the Brit eased past Indonesia’s Janice Tjen to advance to the third round of the US Open for the first time since her title win in 2021.
There she will play Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, a former Grand Slam champion in her own right.
World number 36 Raducanu will be up against it, taking on top-ten star Rybakina, but will be confident of picking up the win, having trained as hard as she has at Flushing Meadows.
Sharing her thoughts on Raducanu’s training, 2013 Marion Bartoli claimed the British number one has done something unusual at the US Open.
Marion Bartoli gives her verdict on Emma Raducanu’s three-hour practice session
Speaking to Sky Sports in the aftermath of Raducanu’s second-round win, Bartoli commented on the Brit’s training.
“We know when Emma [Raducanu] feels the stress and feels unsure about herself, she goes two or three metres behind the baseline, hoping that her movement will get her through the match. Of course, she’s making a lot of balls back, but she doesn’t really win the match that way,” she said.
“The way she’s been stepping into the court, showing her power on the forehand and backhand side, bringing some slice as well, she’s been working a lot on her slice backhand with her coach in the last few days.
“That’s why in her on-court interview, she said, she’s spent a lot of time on the practice court, she absolutely did.
“Practicing three hours on the Monday, it’s not often that you see a player booking the court for three hours in a row, going through all the possible shots she will have to hit on the tennis court.”
Working with new coach Francisco Roig, Raducanu has definitely stepped up her training over the past month or so.
The hard work is clearly paying off, as the Brit produced another stellar performance in round two.
Emma Raducanu’s second-round performance given a 10/10 rating by Marion Bartoli
Focusing on Raducanu’s win over Tjen, the Frenchwoman was suitably impressed.
“It’s very difficult not to give her a 10/10 for this performance; she was just incredible from the first game,” said Bartoli.
“She did not give her opponent anything to work with, just peppering that backhand of [Janice] Tjen all day long, stepping inside the court every time she had the occasion to do so.
“Going with the backhand down the line as well, being sublime on her serve, taking that return sometimes two metres inside the court on the second serve, it takes someone with a lot of confidence and a lot of skills to do that.”
Raducanu’s serve was solid throughout her second-round win, making eight aces and zero double faults.
| Player | Aces | Double faults | 1st Serve % | Win % on 1st Serve | Win % on 2nd Serve |
| Emma Raducanu | 8 | 0 | 79% | 76% | 60% |
| Janice Tjen | 1 | 2 | 63% | 50% | 54% |
Bartoli couldn’t help but get ‘excited’ about Raducanu’s US Open chances, having seen her drop just six games across her first two matches.
“To take someone like Tjen out of the court in one hour to reach the third round of the US Open, that’s why we got so excited since the first round match here, because we know the potential, we know what she’s capable of bringing to the court, and she absolutely did that today,” she said.
“It’s hard not to get excited again with the level Emma [Raducanu] brought today on the court.”
Replicating that level against a player of Rybakina’s quality will be much more difficult, although you wouldn’t want to bet against her.
Rybakina and Raducanu will face off for a place in the last 16 of the US Open on Friday, August 29.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
