4 years in the past, Emma Raducanu shocked the tennis world when she received the U.S. Open as an 18-year-old qualifier.
However practically as staggering had been Raducanu’s lack of success at Flushing Meadows since then.
The British star entered the weekend searching for her first win in a U.S. Open match since that 2021 championship, having suffered first-round exits in 2022 and 2024 whereas lacking the 2023 match as a consequence of harm.
Emma Raducanu competes within the 1st spherical of the 2025 U.S. Open tennis championships on the USTA Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Middle in Flushing New York on August 24, 2025. (Andrew Schwartz/New York Every day Information)
The drought got here to an finish Sunday, as Raducanu cruised previous Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium for a tidy first-round victory.
“It has been on my mind,” Raducanu, 22, mentioned afterward. “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 eradicated Shibahara, a Japanese qualifier, in solely 62 minutes on the primary day of the Open. She went up 5-0 within the first set and 4-0 within the second, dealing with little resistance on a cool morning in Queens.
Emma Raducanu competes within the 1st spherical of the 2025 U.S. Open tennis championships on the USTA Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Middle in Flushing New York on August 24, 2025. (Andrew Schwartz/New York Every day Information)
She totaled solely six unforced errors.
The match started at 11 a.m., making it the primary to happen at Louis Armstrong on this 12 months’s match.
“I was nervous this morning after practice,” Raducanu mentioned. “There’s not a lot time, taking part in first on. You’re type of dashing to do issues. I used to be nervous in apply. Afterwards, after I got here out of the bathe, I felt like I type of simply acquired into the zone, acquired my match equipment on, and that, for me, is a shift of, ‘OK, you’re going to prepare. Lock in now.’
Emma Raducanu competes within the 1st spherical of the 2025 U.S. Open tennis championships on the USTA Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Middle in Flushing New York on August 24, 2025. (Andrew Schwartz/New York Every day Information)
“Then I relaxed,” she mentioned. “Going onto Armstrong, I think getting that first game was really important.”
Along with her Open victory in 2021, Raducanu turned the primary qualifier ever to win one of many 4 Grand Slam tournaments.
However that is still her solely Grand Slam title.
Raducanu misplaced to Alizé Cornet on the 2022 Open and to Sofia Kenin, an American, final 12 months. Surgical procedures on each wrists and an ankle prevented Raducanu from competing on the occasion in 2023.
As soon as the world’s Tenth-ranked participant, Raducanu entered this 12 months’s Open as No. 36.
Nonetheless, Raducanu final week described the U.S. Open as a “happy place” and mentioned she was in a “much better place” going into this 12 months’s version of it. Earlier this month, Raducana employed coach Francisco Roig, who labored with Rafael Nadal from 2005-22.
Emma Raducanu competes within the 1st spherical of the 2025 U.S. Open tennis championships on the USTA Billie Jean King Nationwide Tennis Middle in Flushing New York on August 24, 2025. (Andrew Schwartz/New York Every day Information)
“I really liked playing on Armstrong today. The crowd was great,” Raducanu mentioned after Sunday’s win.
“I think New York is always different. It’s a bit challenging in terms of there is always so much going on, whether you’re in the city, at the hotel, or on the way to the courts. There is traffic, it takes an hour, but it’s something that we all kind of go through. I personally love the buzz. I love how intimate the crowd gets.”
Raducanu is ready to face Janice Tjen of Indonesia on Wednesday within the second spherical. Tjen, 23, defeated Twenty fourth-seeded Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Sunday in her first-ever U.S. Open match.
“I felt like I had most things kind of under control on my side of the court,” Raducana mentioned. “I just want to stay in my zone and keep going with what I’m doing.”
Initially Revealed: August 24, 2025 at 3:42 PM EDT
