Emma Raducanu expressed her frustration to the umpire about a crying child during her closely contested third-round match against world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati, a match that ended in a narrow defeat for Raducanu. This was their second meeting in the year, following Sabalenka’s victory at Wimbledon.
As tensions escalated in the deciding third set, with Raducanu serving while trailing 3-4, the match became increasingly fraught. After an interruption caused by a child’s cries, Raducanu paused her serve to address the umpire, stating, “It’s been, like, 10 minutes.” The umpire’s light-hearted retort—asking if she wanted him to remove the child from the stadium—elicited laughter from the crowd, some of whom responded affirmatively.
Despite the distractions, Raducanu maintained her focus, eventually levelling the score at 4-4 in the third set. However, the match proceeded to a tense tiebreak, where Sabalenka triumphed 7-5, ultimately winning the match 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(5). Post-match, Sabalenka noted her relief at securing the victory and looked forward to her next day of play.
Raducanu began strongly, winning the first eight points of the match, but a pivotal double fault shifted the momentum in Sabalenka’s favour, who clinched the first set after about an hour of play. The second set was closely fought, with Raducanu turning the tide by breaking Sabalenka’s serve to win it 6-4.
This defeat marked Raducanu’s third loss to Sabalenka in their three meetings, and she has now won just one out of twelve matches against top five ranked players. Currently, she is under the guidance of coach Francisco Roig, who previously coached Rafael Nadal for many years.