Elena Rybakina put together a serving masterclass to oust Emma Raducanu, beating the Briton 6-1, 6-2 in a dominant performance to reach the fourth round of the US Open for the first time in her career.
It is hard to believe that a player whose flat, powerful baseline game is so formidable on hard courts is only now reaching her maiden fourth-round appearance in New York at her seventh attempt.
The Kazakh was simply unstoppable today, effortlessly unleashing her intimidating power off both wings as she racked up 23 winners and converted four of her nine break point opportunities.
Raducanu, meanwhile, was unable to find any rhythm against the free-swining Rybakina, failing to muster a single break point as her opponent completely shut her out of her service games.
Particularly telling was her second serve win percentage, which rested at just 29% by the end of the contest. Rybakina attacked that second serve relentlessly to devastating effect and it proved pivotal in the eventual outcome.
Today’s exit marks the end of a very positive summer for the 2021 champion, whose settled coaching team spearheaded by Francisco Roig have aided a consistency and quality over the past few months that Raducanu had yet to find since that stunning breakout triumph four years ago.
The next step was to replicate that success against the WTA’s leading players – something that Raducanu has yet to do. A third-round meeting with the big-hitting Kazakh was another opportunity to break that next barrier. But the Briton simply ran into a world-class opponent in scintillating form, and this match-up yet again proved another step too far.
An early break in the second game followed by another in the sixth earned Rybakina a comfortable first-set win, while another two breaks without reply saw the 2022 Wimbledon champion canter to a win that sends an ominous statement to the rest of the women’s singles field.
