{"id":72905,"date":"2025-08-10T18:43:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T18:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/72905\/"},"modified":"2025-08-10T18:43:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-10T18:43:06","slug":"raducanu-ready-for-fact-finding-match-against-sabalenka-at-cincinnati-open-tennis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/72905\/","title":{"rendered":"Raducanu ready for \u2018fact-finding match\u2019 against Sabalenka at Cincinnati Open | Tennis"},"content":{"rendered":"

Emma Raducanu has underlined her excitement before what she describes as a \u201cfact-finding match\u201d against the world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> as they prepare to battle in the third round of the Cincinnati Open on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s always exciting for a player like me to play the very top, because it\u2019s like a fact-finding match,\u201d Raducanu said. \u201cYou see where you are in comparison to the top. And I also think form fluctuates so much on the day. So you can lose two and one [6-2, 6-1] one day, you can win or you can make it close the next day, and it can be down to a few points. So I\u2019m excited.\u201d<\/p>\n

This occasion will mark Raducanu\u2019s first significant match since starting the partnership with her new coach Francisco Roig<\/a> last week in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n

Last month Raducanu played one of her best matches<\/a> against a top player as she made life difficult for Sabalenka at Wimbledon in two tight sets. After serving for the first set and then later holding a set point against the Belarusian, Raducanu led 4-1 in the second set before losing 7-6 (6), 6-4.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe played incredible tennis,\u201d Sabalenka said of the British player after her straight-sets win against Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m super happy to see her mentally and physically back, and definitely gonna be back in the top 10 very soon. She challenged me that much, and I like to accept tough challenges, so I\u2019m super excited about facing her on the hard courts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raducanu gave an honest response when asked if she left Centre Court at Wimbledon determined to have another crack at Sabalenka as soon as possible. \u201cI would say I thought I\u2019d love to have another crack at that on grass, like tomorrow,\u201d she said, laughing.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I know, and I\u2019m honestly reasonable enough, and, I guess, honest enough in myself to know that different surfaces favour different people and where my game is at in comparison. I think the grass gave me a bit of an advantage but we\u2019ll see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raducanu has enjoyed a positive run of form in recent months while training and competing consistently on the tour, and she could be seeded for the US Open.<\/p>\n

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However, while she has performed well in the matches she has been favoured to win, the lessons from most of her previous matches against the top players have been that her general level has simply not been good enough.<\/p>\n

In their first few days working together, Raducanu and Roig will at least get a clear understanding of exactly where she stands in comparison to the very best.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Emma Raducanu has underlined her excitement before what she describes as a \u201cfact-finding match\u201d against the world No…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[99,428],"class_list":{"0":"post-72905","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}