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Meanwhile the man with the biggest smile in tennis, Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>, is doing to Luciano Darderi what he did in the first set, and now leads 6-2, 4-1. Despite his five slam titles, he can be prone to lapses in concentration, but he\u2019s been locked in here from the start and appears well set for a fourth-round meeting with Benjamin Bonzi or Arthur Rinderknech. The French pair are locked at one set all.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n I think the disappointing thing for Raducanu today was that she\u2019ll know she could have played better. Yes, she\u2019s struggled against the top, top players in the past, but the way she took it to Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon and in Cincinnati marked real progress, which was halted today. But progress is rarely linear \u2013 Raducanu of all people knows that, with all the knocks she\u2019s had during her career. Hopefully she can still build on the positives from her summer; it\u2019s been good to see her playing with a smile again, that\u2019s for sure.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.33 EDT<\/p>\n An email. \u201cRaducanu is ranked around 35 and I feel that is accurate,\u201d writes Mary Waltz. \u201cShe is still young and has room for improvement. She can have a long career but I don\u2019t see her as regular top-10 player or major tournament winner. No shame in that.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Raducanu leaves court in double quick time. Rybakina, meanwhile, says in her interview she\u2019s really happy with how she played and that the scoreline didn\u2019t reflect how tough Raducanu is as competitor. She admits she doesn\u2019t know why she hasn\u2019t gone far at the US Open before, but hopes this year will be different. The interview takes an unexpected turn when she\u2019s asked about her love of rollercoasters \u2013 not that she experienced one today \u2013 the match was always going only one way.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Rybakina beats Raducanu 6-1, 6-2<\/p>\n Alcaraz meanwhile, having conceded only two points on serve so far, leads Darderi 5-2. And here are three set points on the Italian\u2019s serve. Darderi nets. Alcaraz has the first set in 30 minutes \u2026 as Rybakina completes victory in just 62, when Raducanu\u2019s return flies long. A chastening day for Raducanu, having had such a promising summer. For Rybakina, surprisingly, this is the first time she\u2019s reached the fourth round in New York \u2026 and on this form she can go deep. Next she\u2019ll face either Jasmine Paolini or Marketa Vondrousova.<\/p>\n Rybakina of Kazakhstan (L) and Emma Raducanu of Great Britain shake hands following their match. Photograph: Al Bello\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a012.40 EDT<\/p>\n Raducanu, from 15-all on her serve, slides 15-40 down. Which may as well be two match points. The pair get into a cross-court exchange \u2026 Rybkina hits just wide. And then nets her return! Raducanu puffs out her cheeks in relief; she\u2019ll be hoping those two missed chances will play on her opponent\u2019s mind. But from deuce, Raducanu is dragged out of court and Rybakina then hits a winner into the open space. And Raducanu\u2019s cross-court forehand skids into the tramlines. Rybakina will serve for the match at 6-1, 5-2. Not that the crowd are cheering; they wanted a match here. But it\u2019s gone by in the blink of an eye. Or more accurately 58 minutes.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Raducanu wins a rare point on the Rybakina second serve for 15-all. But then a short ball is swatted away for 30-15. Roig is trying to encourage Raducanu to take a few steps back and give herself more time on the ball. His plea works; it\u2019s soon 30-all. But Rybakina rams an ace down the T and then Raducanu drops a tame ball into the centre of the court and Rybakina has plenty of time to take aim and whack a forehand winner. It\u2019s 6-1, 4-2.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n A nice bit of play from Raducanu, as she hits back behind Rybakina, catching the Kazakhstani off guard, to secure a hold to 30. The problem is, at 6-1, 3-2 down, she\u2019s starting to run out of chances to break.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Make that 3-0 Alcaraz. He\u2019s looking as sharp as his haircut. And Rybakina.<\/p>\n Carlos Alcaraz of Spain returns a shot to Luciano Darderi of Italy. Photograph: Yuki Iwamura\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.59 EDT<\/p>\n Rybakina rips a few more winners and it\u2019s 6-1, 3-1. Meanwhile Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> is doing what Carlos Alcaraz does, and the 2022 champion (was it really three years ago?!) has broken for a 2-0 lead in the opening set.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Raducanu duly listens to our Tim, and has a little spring in her step as she heads back to her chair having held courtesy of a couple of winners. Can she build on it? The problem is, this match is still very much on Rybakina\u2019s racket. For all the inconsistency Rybakina has shown during her career, when she\u2019s playing at her best, few can live with her; she\u2019s up there with Sabalenka and Swiatek.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Ach. Raducanu, from 40-0 up on serve at the start of the second set, makes a flurry of errors and that\u2019s another break. She desperately needed to steady herself in this match, but Rybakina consolidates the break and is 6-1, 2-0 ahead. \u201cOnly 37 minutes on the clock but you think the next game is must-win for Raducanu,\u201d says Henman, as Raducanu\u2019s latest coach Francisco Roig offers some encouragement from the sidelines.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Rybakina is seeing the ball like a football out there. She\u2019s barely missing. But Raducanu is playing a lot into the centre of the court; perhaps she\u2019ll have more success if she gets Rybakina on the move. She needs to try something different, that\u2019s for sure. Meanwhile Carlos Alcaraz and that<\/a> buzzcut<\/a> have arrived on Arthur Ashe. His victim opponent today is the Italian 32nd seed Luciano Darderi.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n This game follows the first-set script as Rybakina moves to 40-30, set point. But then she throws in a double! A glimmer, perhaps, for Raducanu. But Raducanu can\u2019t make the most of the reprieve. She bashes a backhand return into the net on the second set point and it\u2019s been a near-rout for Rybakina, who leads 6-1.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Raducanu gets on the board as a forehand winner seals a hold to 15. That\u2019ll have felt good. But Rybakina, undeterred, swiftly holds to 15 herself amid a flurry of errant forehands from Raducanu. Rybakina has this way of looking so calm, composed and effortless, while also being so powerful and destructive. And that\u2019s exactly how she gets herself a double break. It\u2019s 5-1. After just 22 minutes, the ninth seed will serve for the opening set.<\/p>\n Britain’s Emma Raducanu plays a return to Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina. Photograph: Angela Weiss\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.45 EDT<\/p>\n And we\u2019ve also got these two pieces on US Open stoners and dating shows. Not a sentence I thought I\u2019d ever type.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n As usual, please do get in touch<\/a> with your predictions\/predilections. Or with anything I\u2019ve missed. I\u2019ve been on holiday the past couple of weeks (the west coast of Scotland \u2013 so beautiful!), so I\u2019m playing a bit of catch-up. And talking of playing catch-up, here\u2019s what happened on day five:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Raducanu dropped only six games in her first two matches. But both were against qualifiers; Rybakina, the 2022 Wimbledon champ, represents a huge step up in quality. Raducanu has tended to struggle against the biggest hitters \u2013 and is letting Rybakina dictate early on here \u2013 but the way in which she stood up to Aryna Sabalenka in two tight defeats at Wimbledon and Cincinnati this summer will give her hope. But Rybakina backs up the break and it\u2019s 3-0.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Rybakina underlines why she\u2019s the best server in the women\u2019s game with some pinpoint deliveries to get to 40-15 in the opening game. The Russia-born Kazakhstani then misfires from the baseline, but holds to 30 when Raducanu rattles her return long. Rybakina bosses the next game too, charging to 0-40 and three break points. Raducanu repels the first, Rybakina blinks on the second but makes no mistake on the third. Raducanu drops serve for the first time at this US Open and it\u2019s 2-0.<\/p>\n Raducanu reaches to play a return. Photograph: Angela Weiss\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.46 EDT<\/p>\n Also getting going: Jiri Lehecka, the Czech 20th seed, against Belgium\u2019s Raphael Collignon, the conqueror of Casper Ruud; and the all-French affair between Benjamin Bonzi and Arthur Rinderknech.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n On Sky, Tim Henman is backing the Brit, but reckons it\u2019ll go to three sets. Marion Bartoli is also going with Raducanu. Big call. The head-to-head doesn\u2019t help us much: ER has met ER only once before, back in 2022, though Rybakina did thrash Raducanu 6-0, 6-1. The pair have plenty of respect for each other and played doubles together last month in Washington DC.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Raducanu, all smiles, steps on to court, just ahead of Rybakina. The British No 1 has looked so happy and relaxed this week, having finally won her first matches at the US Open since that unlikely 2021 triumph. Rybakina, surprisingly given her pedigree as a former Wimbledon champion, has never been beyond the third round in New York. The pair are warming up, which should give you just about enough time to read Tumaini\u2019s preview:<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Preamble<\/p>\n Good afternoon\/morning\/evening depending on your worldly whereabouts and welcome to our day six coverage of the US Open as the third round begins. Now the pre-match pleasantries are out of the way, we better cut straight to the chase, because Emma Raducanu is about to get going against Elena Rybakina on Louis Armstrong. Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> will make his entrance on Arthur Ashe in about half an hour. The American contingent of Ben Shelton, Jessica Pegula, Frances Tiafoe and Emma Navarro are also in action in the day session as the Labor Day weekend gets under way, along with Jasmine Paolini and the former finalist Victoria Azarenka. Let\u2019s do this!<\/p>\n