Armed with a travelling chiropractor in her team for the first time, Emma Raducanu ended a long wait for a first US Open win since her memorable run to the title as a teenage qualifier in 2021.
Raducanu took great satisfaction in her performance at Flushing Meadows, smiling and fist-pumping towards her support staff after taking only 62 minutes to complete a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Ena Shibahara, a Japanese qualifier ranked No130 in the world.
Among those sitting in her courtside box was a new face in Jerome Poupel, a French chiropractor whose experience in sport includes stints helping the jockey Tony McCoy and the Formula 1 driver David Coulthard. Videos online even show him treating racehorses, with McCoy hailing him for the impact he had on both humans and animals.
Raducanu has previously suffered from back issues and started working privately with Poupel last year. Noticeably on the tour this season she has seldom suffered the physical niggles that used to afflict her, and she has been so pleased with his help that she invited him to travel to New York as a member of her team this fortnight.
“I’ve had back problems for the last year, so he’s just really helped with that,” Raducanu said. “As I’ve been playing more tennis and training more, it’s just important for me to stay on top of that.
“He’s worked in Formula 1, he’s worked with horses, so it’s very different. I’m just enjoying having him around. He’s a great, calm but eccentric kind of character. Very smooth talking and just a lot of fun to be around. He’s got so much different, diverse experience that it’s great to have that insight.”
Raducanu has taken the opportunity to ask him several questions about his work in other sports. Their conversations have resulted in amusing comparisons and the identification of a skill that could be improved in her game.
Raducanu and the “eccentric” Poupel at Wimbledon this year
“He said that my character is similar to a horse: can be quite stubborn and dig their heels in,” Raducanu said. “They also wear their emotion on their sleeve. If they’re not feeling like they want to do something they probably won’t do it.
“With the racing drivers they have to react at such high speed, with so much force going through their bodies. For me, I’ve always been curious about that, and asked him about that and the reaction time. We haven’t necessarily got to work on it, and I don’t know what he can help me with to do that, but reaction times are something that I want to improve. And what better way than with someone who’s worked with F1 drivers?”
Raducanu’s win on Sunday was an important step forward in her ongoing attempts to get back up towards the upper section of the rankings. It was no big surprise that she struggled to handle the aftermath of a first grand-slam triumph at the age of 18, given the intensity of the spotlight she suddenly found herself under, but no one could have anticipated that she would have to wait until 2025 to taste victory again in New York. She lost first-round matches in 2022 and 2024, and was absent here in 2023 because of injury.
The British No1 admitted the first-round victory in New York was “extra special”
YUKI IWAMURA/AP
Admittedly, Shibahara did not put up much of a challenge. Although the 27-year-old had done well to come through three matches in straight sets at last week’s preliminary event, she was noticeably nervous in this main-draw contest, hitting 36 unforced errors to Raducanu’s six.
The tone for the match was set right at the start on a breezy morning on Louis Armstrong Stadium, the second stadium court here. Raducanu hit an ace on the first point and comfortably held serve for 1-0, while Shibahara double faulted twice in her opening service game to go 2-0 down.
Raducanu’s new coach, Francisco Roig, who formerly worked with Rafael Nadal, nodded his approval from courtside as Raducanu raced 5-0 ahead by dominating the baseline exchanges. Raducanu was clearly in the zone, repeatedly shouting, “Let’s go, let’s go,” to herself in between points.
Shibahara looked nervy and made 36 unforced errors
YUKI IWAMURA/AP
Shibahara was relieved to avoid being on the wrong end of a 6-0 set with her first hold for 5-1, but this had no impact on the overall direction of the match as Raducanu closed out the set in 26 minutes with a comfortable smash at the net.
Raducanu kept up her momentum with an early break in the second set for 1-0 and saved the only break point she faced in the match at 4-1 up. Victory soon followed with a hold to love as Shibahara wildly hit a forehand wide of the court.
Regardless of the level across the net, this win crucially maintains Raducanu’s high confidence level after an encouraging build-up on the American hard courts. Her game and mind are both in a good place after a semi-final run to the Washington Open and a close three-set loss to the world No1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of the Cincinnati Open. A 25th match win here on Sunday means she has already banked more victories than any other season in her career, with another two and a half months to go of the 2025 schedule.
“It’s my first win here since 2021, so it’s extra special,” Raducanu said. “It has been on my mind. It’s been four years, and it’s a very special tournament for me. I did feel different coming into it this year. I felt like I was doing the right things day to day, but still it’s in the back of your head, So I’m just very pleased to have overcome that.”
Raducanu received another boost later in the day when Veronika Kudermetova suffered a shock defeat. This means that instead of facing the No24 seed on Wednesday, Raducanu will play the Indonesian qualifier Janice Tjen, who belied her world ranking of No147 with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 victory.
Draper: Oasis helped me get over Wimbledon heartache 
Draper said the Oasis gig was “one of the best nights of my life”
SHUTTERSTOCK EDITORIAL
Jack Draper’s response to one of the most disappointing defeats in his career at Wimbledon last month was to join the hundreds of thousands of his compatriots who have revelled at one of the musical highlights of this summer.
An Oasis gig at Wembley Stadium is a far cry from the grass courts of the All England Club, but it is where Draper took solace in moving on from a dispiriting four-set defeat by Marin Cilic in the second round. Little by little, the hit songs of Liam and Noel Gallagher helped the British No1 not to look back in anger.
“It was probably the best night of my life in all honesty,” Draper said. “They are one of my childhood bands that I listen to the most. I absolutely love both of them, and I love the whole band in general. It was incredible. I don’t think many bands can do that.”
It is not ideal for Draper’s tennis that an arm injury forced him out of action for eight weeks following Wimbledon as he arrives at the US Open with no singles matches under his belt on the American hard courts this summer. Not that he seems too worried about this, instead enthusing about the time he had to enjoy the more normal elements of life away from the court.
“Those sorts of things I don’t often get to do a lot in life in general,” Draper said. “Just take myself away from things, go to gigs and just feel like I’m not in the bubble of tennis. Obviously it was tough missing out on the tournaments, but at the same time having a bit of time to reflect on things and be able to enjoy just normal things was a big thing for me.”