Emma Raducanu wins 23-minute, 13-deuce game—but falls to Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati

CINCINNATI, Ohio—Aryna Sabalenka lost the battle but won the war: despite failing to capture a 23-minute, 13-deuce game against Emma Raducanu, she passed her first big test of the week, holding off the 2021 US Open champion, 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (5) to advance into the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open.

🖥️📱 Click here to stream a replay of Aryna Sabalenka vs. Emma Raducanu on TennisChannel.com.

The world No. 1 was facing Raducanu for the first time since a thrilling Wimbledon clash last month, and won a 16th straight tiebreaker as she scored a second straight win over the 2021 US Open champion in three hours and nine minutes on Center Court—the third-longest match since it became a 1000-level event.

Sabalenka and Raducanu’s rivalry first began at the 2024 BNP Paribas Open, where the former won in straight sets. But it truly took shape at the All England Club last month, where Raducanu gave Sabalenka all she could handle over two tight sets in the third round on Centre Court.

Raducanu has enjoyed an impressive rise back up the rankings after falling outside the Top 300 early last year. The Brit reached her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal at the Miami Open earlier this spring and kicked off the US Open swing with a run to the semifinals of the Mubadala Citi DC Open.

Sabalenka spent that week on vacation, recovering from a trio of disappointing Grand Slam results that saw her fall just short of victories at the Australian Open, Roland Garros, and Wimbledon. Making her first appearance since her SW19 semifinal lost to Amanda Anisimova, Sabalenka played her best on key points and saved all 12 break points faced to defeat Marketa Vondrousova in her opening round.

The No. 30 seed Raducanu quickly proved a different challenge as she raced through the first two games, threatening to win a third. Sabalenka roared back from there, winning four straight games to carve out a 4-2 lead, but Raducanu stayed with the three-time Grand Slam champion, leveling the set and ultimately forcing a tiebreaker.

Sabalenka maintained her superb record in Sudden Deaths this season, engineering five set points at 6-1 before converting, but fell behind a crucial break in the second to find herself fighting through a third.

An already tense decider reached a fever pitch at the aforementioned eighth game, Raducanu serving down 3-4. Saving four break points over the 23 minutes, she brought the Cincinnati crowd to its feet as she held on to level the set at four games apiece.

The two traded two more serve holds—Raducanu serving her way out of danger at 4-5, two points from defeat—as the match headed towards a second tiebreaker. With her tiebreak bona fides on the line, Sabalenka scored the first mini-break with a thunderous passing shot, leading 4-2 after the first change of ends.

Raducanu broke back but Sabalenka earned two match points with a ferocious foray to net. On the brink of defeat, Raducanu pulled off an impeccable ace to save the first match point, leaving the match on Sabalenka’s racquet.

The world No. 1 stepped to the line and ripped an ace of her own to edge over the finish line in just over three hours.

Up next for Sabalenka will be Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who backed up her first-round victory over Venus Williams by knocking out DC Open champion Leylah Fernandez and American Taylor Townsend.