Raducanu believes world’s best play with ‘point to prove’ against her

Emma Raducanu believes the best players in the world feel they have a “point to prove” against her because of the British No 1’s early grand slam success after a 6-1 6-2 defeat to Elena Rybakina in the US Open third round.

Raducanu has lost to high-ranked opponents in each of the four grand slam tournaments this season, going down heavily to Iga Swiatek at the Australian Open and the French Open and pushing Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon.

“I think when the very top play against me, they have a point to prove that they’re at the top, and they’re there for a reason, I think every time I’ve played one, they’ve kind of shown that,” Raducanu said.

“I think at the same time while I’m improving, doing better, gaining maybe some more respect, I think the top have definitely raised their game. But I’ll take that as a compliment that they’ve decided to really lock in against me, but at the same time it does show I have a lot more work to do.”

Jamie Braidwood29 August 2025 18:54

Emma Raducanu on her 6-1 6-2 defeat to Elena Rybakina

“I thought Elena played very well, and I found it very difficult to get any sort of rhythm in the match.

“So when I did have a ball, it was kind of hard for me to all of a sudden, you know, like hit a quality shot, because so many of them were so deep or I didn’t touch that many either. So it was just hard to really capitalise on the few moments that I had. Credit to her. She played a very good match.

“I think maybe if I held in the first game of the second set, but being 40-0 up, I mean, I missed a couple of shots that I probably wouldn’t usually miss. But at the same time, I just felt like every ball was so difficult that I was receiving. Then I was kind of shocked when I got a shorter ball.

“So it was difficult, but otherwise, I thought I tried to mix it up with my return position. I thought overall, yeah, she served well, returned well, and did a lot well.”

Jamie Braidwood29 August 2025 18:31

Emma Raducanu’s US Open run ended by ruthless Elena Rybakina

Emma Raducanu’s US Open campaign came to a brutal end in the third round at the hands of former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.

Raducanu had breezed through to the third round, winning her first two matches for the loss of only six games, but here she was on the receiving end as Rybakina powered to a 6-1 6-2 victory in just 62 minutes.

Eleanor Crooks29 August 2025 17:49

Raducanu’s 2025 record against top-10 opponents takes a hit

Raducanu has to hope to continue the positive momentum she is building under coach Francisco Roig as well as the consistent work on the practice courts.

Improving her ranking and ensuring she starts to enter grand slams a seeded player has to be a huge goal now ahead of the 2026 season.

Her grand slam defeat in 2025 came to Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek, three of the best four players in the world along with Coco Gauff.

vs Rybakina (10), US Open, 1-6 1-2

vs Sabalenka (1), Cincinnati, 6-7 6-3 6-7

vs Anisimova (7), Montreal, 2-6 1-6

vs Sabalenka (1), Wimbledon, 6-7 4-6

vs Zheng (5), Queens, 2-6, 4-6

vs Swiatek (5), French Open, 1-6 2-6

vs Gauff (2), Italian Open, 1-6 2-6

vs Pegula (4), Miami Open, 4-6 7-6 2-6

vs Navarro (8), Miami Open, 7-6 2-6 7-6

vs Swiatek (2), Australian Open, 1-6 0-6

(Getty Images)

Jamie Braidwood29 August 2025 17:42

Match stats: Emma Raducanu 1-6 2-6 Elena Rybakina

Unsurprisingly, the stats are heavily weighted in Rybakina’s favour and make clear how dominant she was today.

Aces: Rybakina 3-2 Raducanu

Double Faults: Rybakina 3-0 Raducanu

First Serve % In: Rybakina, 21/45 (47%); Raducanu, 29/46 (63%)

Win % on 1st Serve: Rybakina, 18/21 (86%); Raducanu, 18/29 (62%)

Win % on 2nd Serve: Rybakina, 15/24 (63%); Raducanu, 5/17 (29%)

Break Points Won: Rybakina, 4/9 (44%); Raducanu, 0/0 (0%)

Receiving Points Won: Rybakina, 23/46 (50%); Raducanu, 12/45 (27%)

Winners: Rybakina, 23; Raducanu, 8

Unforced Errors: Rybakina, 19; Raducanu, 18

Total Points Won: Rybakina, 56; Raducanu, 35

Jamie Braidwood29 August 2025 17:32

Rybakina reflects on US Open win over Raducanu

Elena Rybakina, famously, does not show much emotion on court but she was a worthy winner today and her game is great to watch when it’s firing like it was today.

“Really happy with the performance, It’s not easy to play against Emma,” she says. “Sometimes the score doesn’t show it but she’s a tough competitor. I’m happy with how I played today.

“Throughout the years, for some reason, US Open wasn’t successful for me. Hopefully this year it will change and I can go as far as possible.”

Jamie Braidwood29 August 2025 17:24

Rybakina looking like a US Open contender

Elena Rybakina is through to the fourth round of the US Open for the first time, and could play Jasmine Paolini next. She’s also in the same quarter as World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

On this form, she could beat anyone. As a reminder, the former Wimbledon champion and Australian Open finalist has reached three hard-court semi-finals this season, so is in great form. Is New York where she takes the next step?

(REUTERS)

Jamie Braidwood29 August 2025 17:21

Raducanu struggles against another top-10 opponent

Unfortunately this continues a bit of a pattern for Raducanu. Apart from two brilliant showings against World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon and Cincinnati, she has been bounced out from several major tournaments this season by top-10 opponents.

This felt quite similar to the 6-1 6-0 defeat to Swiatek at the Australian Open, or the 6-1 6-2 to Swiatek at the French, or the 6-1 6-2 defeat to Coco Gauff at the Italian Open, or the 6-2 6-1 defeat to Amanda Anisimova in Montreal.

(AP)

Jamie Braidwood29 August 2025 17:17

Emma Raducanu heads home from US Open

Barely a murmur from the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd as Rybakina wraps up a rapid victory. Raducanu had the backing of the crowd, but they were left stunned by how one-sided that 6-1 6-2 win was I think.

Rybakina did not face a single break point and converted the opening break in both sets.

Jamie Braidwood29 August 2025 17:14

GAME, SET AND MATCH! Emma Raducanu 1-6 2-6 Elena Rybakina

Rybakina makes no mistake on serve. A truly dominant win.

Jamie Braidwood29 August 2025 17:12