Sabalenka edges Raducanu in Cincinnati thriller

World number one Aryna Sabalenka survived a nail-biting battle to beat Emma Raducanu in the Cincinnati Open, winning a match that went the distance with two tense tiebreaks. 

The world number one needed more than three hours to overcome the Briton in a clash packed with drama, power, and grit and kept her Cincinnati Open title defence alive by claiming a 7-6(3) 4-6 7-6(5) victory over Raducanu in a marathon third-round clash on Monday. 

In another clash of the tournament, Taylor Fritz advanced with a straight-sets win over Lorenzo Sonego.

Fresh off their third-round clash at Wimbledon last month, Sabalenka and Raducanu produced another epic contest, featuring a 13-deuce game in the third set, before the Belarusian sealed victory in three hours and nine minutes.

Sabalenka relied on her trademark powerful serve to hold firm in the key moments, winning two tiebreaks to take her tally to 18 for the season, the most by any women’s singles player in the professional era.

Despite the defeat, Raducanu seems to be finding her best form just in time for this month's US Open at Flushing Meadows, where she triumphed in 2021. The Briton outscored Sabalenka in total points won, 125–123.

‘I’m really happy to see her healthy. I can see she’s improving,’ Sabalenka said of Raducanu.

‘Happy to get through this match. I really hope tomorrow I have a day off.’

Sabalenka next faces Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the last 16.

Elsewhere, Anna Kalinskaya stunned American fifth seed Amanda Anisimova 7-5 6-4 for her third win against a Top 10 opponent in the season. She will face fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the next round.

After a one-hour delay caused by a power outage, fourth seed Taylor Fritz defeated Italy’s Sonego 7-6(4) 7-5.

The 27-year-old American did not face a break point and capitalised on his lone break opportunity before serving out the match, sealing the win in two hours and eight minutes.

Former champion Madison Keys booked her place in the last 16 with a 6-4 6-0 win over Japan’s Aoi Ito, edging a tight first set before storming through the second in just 20 minutes.

‘In the first set I got off to a pretty good lead and then kind of lost my way a bit,’ sixth seed Keys said. ‘Once I got a break early in the second I wanted to run away with it and keep that momentum and I did.’