raducanu us open 1r

NEW YORK—At just 22 years old, Emma Raducanu has already experienced everything the US Open has to offer. The 2021 champion has played in front of a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd and, that same year, competed on an empty USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center when lingering pandemic concern mandated a spectator-free qualifying tournament.

“It was a strange feeling, I guess,” Raducanu recalled of the empty grounds, “Looking back, it was strange, but at the time it felt normal. I hadn't really played any big matches. I was kind of playing a Brit tour a couple months before. There are not many spectators there in the Connaught Club!

“I just remember there was this one security guard who is still here working. Whenever I see him, he was there from the very, very start of the first round of qualies, second round, and all the way through to the final, and to see him around is really special. Yeah, we have a good bond, good relationship off the court.”

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Emma Raducanu on playing winner of Aryna Sabalenka vs Marketa Vondrousova | 2025 Cincinnati

Raducanu captured plenty of hearts throughout her New York fairytale, but was unable to reciprocate that love prior to this summer, losing in the first round of her two subsequent appearances and missing the 2023 tournament after multiple surgeries.

Back in the Top 40 after an impressive 2025 season, Raducanu narrowly missed out on a seed but quickly proved she was a dangerous floater as the US Open got underway on Sunday, dropping just three games to qualifier Ena Shibahara, 6-1, 6-2.

“I wanted to win a match here really bad,” Raducanu said to open her post-match press conference, adding later, “I was nervous this morning after practice. There's not much time playing first on. You're kind of rushing to do things. I was nervous in practice.

“Afterwards, after I came out of the shower, I felt like I kind of just got into the zone, got my match kit on, and that, for me, is a shift of, ‘Okay, you're going to get ready, lock in now.’

“Then I relaxed. Going onto Armstrong, I think getting that first game was really important. I think I started off really well, and that helped relax me a lot. Especially serving first game, that was a confidence start, and then I felt like I could keep going.”

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Raducanu has enjoyed steady momentum since the end of the Sunshine Swing, where she reached her first career WTA 1000 quarterfinal at the Miami Open. From there, she displayed an appetite for clay-court tennis with a fourth-round showing at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. At her last two big-stage outings, she gave world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka all she could handle, playing her tough over two sets at Wimbledon and pushing her to a third-set tiebreaker just two weeks ago at the Cincinnati Open.

While she can certainly win without it, a spotlight has tended to bring out the Brit’s best tennis this season.

“I love the crowd,” smiled Raducanu, who officially kicked off her US Open with a round of mixed doubles alongside Carlos Alcaraz. “I really liked playing on Armstrong today. The crowd were great.

“I think New York is always different. You know, 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 get. It's very different to Wimbledon. But I think that's what makes each slam so unique and so special, that there is a bit of a different feeling wherever you go.”

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Raducanu enjoys the unique conditions at the US Open, particularly the lighter ball she believes gives her shots an added zip through the court. She also appreciates New York culture, planning a trip to the recently-reopened Frick Collection.

But the latter comes secondary to the hard work she continues to put in with new coach Francisco Roig, who spent years training Rafael Nadal. Roig joined Raducanu’s team earlier this summer, the Brit teasing in her Media Day press conference that her close matches with Sabalenka “helped [her] case” as a viable coaching pupil.

“I'm enjoying getting better,” said Raducanu who could play Cincinnati semifinalist Veronika Kudermetova in the second round. “The process of feeling like at the end of the day I'm satisfied I got a little bit better, and just repeating it. I think that's probably the biggest success and reason to why I feel the way I do right now.”

Led by a vocal Roig, the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd lifted Raducanu to her first Open victory in four years, but it appears the former champion has found a way to cut through the noise and find the sort of peace she once had playing on a quiet qualifying court.

“I just want to stay in my zone and keep going with what I'm doing.”