August 19, (THEWILL) – Following a 7-5 6-4 Cincinnati Masters third round loss to Jessica Pegula, Emma Raducanu’s impeccable preparation for her US Open title defence grounded to a halt.
In the round of 64, the 19-year-old overcame Serena Williams 6-4 6-0 before defeating Victoria Azarenka 6-0 6-2 in the following round. After eliminating 23-time Grand Slam winner, Williams and former world number one, Victoria Azarenka, Raducanu entered Thursday night with momentum.
It was a first-time meeting between Raducanu and Pegula, and the latter was much too powerful for the British number one. The game went with serve for the most part of the first set by, critically, the American broke Raducanu’s serve when the opening set was knotted 5-5.
The native of Buffalo went on to finish off the opening set and improved upon it in the second and concluding set. In the second service game of that decisive set, Pegula broke the Brit, and she held serve the rest of the way to win easily.
With the victory over the current US Open champion, Pegula advances to the quarterfinals where she will play Caroline Garcia of France. Regardless of her loss, Raducanu will have a lot of buzz surrounding her when she arrives at Flushing Meadows as the reigning champion.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
