Credit: Tennis Channel
Emma Raducanu took issue with a crying baby during her three-hour epic against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open.
In a chaotic eighth game of the deciding final set Raducanu was distracted by noises from the stands as she struggled to hold serve. That game also featured 13 deuces. This is how it played out.
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Raducanu earns first game points
Raducanu, who has served impressively up to this point, moves to 40-15 when she hits a first serve down the T and finishes off the short return with a backhand winner.
Little did we know that this would be the start of a titanic service game.
First break point saved
Sabalenka keeps herself in the game and makes it deuce. She earns her first chance to break when Raducanu slices a backhand into the net. Raducanu responds to that error with a first serve ace down the T. Clutch play at a critical time.
Raducanu and crowd want baby removed from stadium
After squandering her sixth opportunity to hold serve, Raducanu gets ready to serve but pauses and walks to the back of the court because a baby is crying in the stands. Raducanu looks at the umpire and says, “It’s been like 10 minutes.”
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Umpire: “It’s a child. Do you want me to send the child out of the stadium?”
Raducanu doesn’t have to reply because the spectators around her do so, saying, “Yeah.” Raducanu smiles, wipes her shoulder with a towel and prepares to go again.
Emma Raducanu was bemused by the umpire’s lack of action – Getty Images/Robert Prange
Second break point saved
At this point, Raducanu is struggling to get first serves into play and hold off Sabalenka. She saves her first break point but faces another and hits a top-spin second serve into Sabalenka’s backhand.
Sabalenka stretches Raducanu wide with her backhand return but the Briton digs the ball back into play and it lands on the baseline. Sabalenka is slow to react and sends her forehand long. Sabalenka hits the ball away in frustration and looks wistfully at the baseline where Raducanu’s ball landed.
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Third break point saved
Raducanu is again forced to rely on her second serve. Sabalenka goes after it with a forehand return, which immediately puts Raducanu on the defensive as she replies with a sliced backhand.
Raducanu recovers her ground, getting good length on her next backhand and Sabalenka goes long with a backhand of her own. She glances at her support box and slumps her shoulders as the game moves to deuce for the 11th time.
On we go!
Aryna Sabalenka grew frustrated at the errors she was making – Getty Images
Fourth break point saved
Sabalenka refuses to let this game go and gets her fourth chance to break with a backhand winner down the line.
The last few points have seen Raducanu mix the speed and angle to get more first serves in. And it works again for her with a kick serve into the bottom left corner of the service box.
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Sabalenka is forced to slice a backhand return into play and that allows Raducanu to step inside the baseline and hit a deep backhand. Off balance, Sabalenka sends her backhand reply long.
Raducanu roar
A Sabalenka forehand return into the net makes it the 13th deuce. On her 11th attempt and with the clock ticking past 23 minutes for the game, Raducanu finally holds with a first serve down the T, which Sabalenka gets a racket onto but can’t get over the net.
The emotion comes pouring out of Raducanu with a clenched fist in the direction of her coach Francis Roig, a huge roar and a look of defiance.
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Despite the defeat, Raducanu seems to be finding her best form just in time for this month’s US Open at Flushing Meadows, where she triumphed in 2021. The 22-year-old Briton outscored Sabalenka in total points won, 125-123.
“I’m really happy to see her healthy. I can see she’s improving,” Sabalenka said of Raducanu. “Happy to get through this match. I really hope tomorrow I have a day off.”
