Emma Raducanu began her buildup towards next month’s US Open with an impressive straight-sets win over the seventh seed, Marta Kostyuk, at the DC Open in Washington. Playing her first singles match since stretching the world No 1, Aryna Sabalenka, in the third round of Wimbledon, Raducanu held off the Ukrainian world No 27 to pull through a gruelling encounter 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Both players struggled on serve in a 71-minute opening set, trading early breaks before inevitably edging into a tie-break which Raducanu won despite surrendering a 4-0 lead.
The British No 3, who made a rare doubles appearance alongside Elena Rybakina this week, looked the fresher of the pair in tough conditions and cemented her superiority by breaking en route to establishing a 3-0 lead in the second set.
Kostyuk, who arrived in Washington having lost five singles matches in a row stretching back to May, rallied just when all seemed lost, breaking Raducanu back as she clawed back to parity at 4-4. After the Briton held to forced Kostyuk to serve to stay in the match, the Ukrainian handed Raducanu two match points with a double fault, and she seized her second chance to book her place in the second round.
Emma Raducanu plays a forehand against Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine at the Citi Open in Washington. Photograph: Nick Wass/AP
“Extremely good win,” Raducanu said in her on-court interview. “Playing Marta first round is extremely difficult and we’ve always had some tough matches. I’m happy with the way I fought through the first set and in the second, stayed tough when I needed to.”
Cameron Norrie completed a notable win against Lorenzo Musetti, the second seed and world No 7, to book his place in the last 16. Norrie, the world No 41, hit back from losing the opening set to triumph 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and score his first win over a top 10-ranked player since reaching the quarter-finals at Indian Wells in 2023.