WTA Cincinnati: Not quite fair, not quite fine
The schedule at the WTA Tour 1000 tournament in Cincinnati does not provide for a breather for Emma Raducanu .
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Aug 17, 2022, 02:10 pm
Emma Raducanu is currently working on the big, older women of tennis at the WTA Tour 1000 tournament in Cincinnati: After beating Serena Williams, the Brit can now try Victoria Azarenka. These are exciting tasks, Raducanu mastered the first one brilliantly on Tuesday evening (local time) with 6: 4 and 6: 0. The fact that the reigning US Open winner had to play against Azarenka just a few hours later in the second game on Wednesday is somewhat surprising.
Because the encounter between Raducanu and Williams had been postponed by one day after the original appointment for Monday without further explanation. In the end, the game only lasted 65 minutes - but of course that was not to be expected. Azarenka was allowed to play her first round match against Kaia Kanepi on Monday.
Raducanu can relieve pressure
Regardless of the breather between matches, Emma Raducanu in Cincinnati is also about relieving some pressure ahead of the US Open. Because there she has 2,000 points to defend for the WTA list, in which she is currently in 13th position. In the hard court summer so far, the still only 19-year-old has a quarter-finals in Washington (loss against Lyudmilla Samsonova) and a first-round loss against Camila Giorgi in Toronto.
Last year, Raducanu surprisingly clinched the title at the last major of the year in New York City, beating Leylah Fernandez in the final. Should Raducanu also clear the second hurdle in Cincinnati, it will be against either Karolina Pliskova or Elise Mertens. Both have shown an upward trend in form in recent weeks.