- In the first round in Cincinnati, reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu will face Serena Williams
- It will be a mouth-watering match since Raducanu has dreamed of playing against the great Williams
- Serena Williams will retire from Tennis after the US Open
The first round of the Cincinnati Open has produced a mouthwatering box office matchup between the defending champion of the U.S. Open, Emma Raducanu, and the retiring great, Serena Williams.
Earlier this week, the 23-time Grand Slam champion made the decision to retire from professional tennis. It appears as though the 2017 US Open will be her very last performance in a competition.
The forty-year-old tennis player is the most successful in the Open Era history and has held the position of world No. 1 for a total of 319 weeks.
Emma Raducanu. Photo/Sky Sports
Williams and Raducanu play each other for the first time
At the Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati, she will meet Raducanu for the first time. Raducanu is a teenage star from Great Britain and is 19 years younger than she is.
Following their respective early eliminations at the Toronto Open this week, Williams and Raducanu are slated to compete against one another on Monday evening.
The United States player won her first match of the year in Canada, defeating Nuris Parrizas Diaz of Spain in straight sets (6-3 and 6-4). Still, in the second round, she was eliminated by Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the same manner.
Raducanu’s poor season continued in Canada, where she was eliminated in the first round by reigning champion Camila Giorgi. The score was 6-7, 2-6.
Raducanu earned a surprise victory at the US Open the year before, becoming the first female British player to win a Grand Slam tournament since Virginia Wade in 1977. She did this after earning a spot in the tournament in just her second major appearance of her professional life.
However, she has had trouble maintaining her fitness and form in 2022. She did not get beyond the second round of the Australian Open, the French Open, or Wimbledon, and she did not advance past the third round in any of her five WTA 1000 matches.
In the second round of the tournament, Raducanu’s winner will play either Victoria Azarenka or Kaia Kanepi, depending on who emerges victorious in Williams’ matchup with Raducanu.
Serena Williams. Photo/The Trent
World No 1 Iga Swiatek eliminated
Iga Swiatek, along with the other top eight seeds, has all been given byes to the second round of the draw.
The Polish player will advance to the second round and compete against Sloane Stephens or Alize Cornet. She hopes to get back on track after being eliminated shockingly by Haddad Maia in Toronto.
Former champions of the U.S. Open Naomi Osaka and Bianca Andreescu will begin their tournament campaigns against Zhang Shuai of China and Giorgi of Italy, respectively. Wild card entrant Venus Williams will play the 14th-seeded Karolina Pliskova.
The events in Cincinnati start on Monday, the 15th of August, and continue through Thursday, the 21st of August. The US Open will take place from the 29th until the 11th of September.
When asked about Williams following her loss in Canada, Raducanu responded, “She most certainly altered the course of the game.”
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