EMMA RADUCANU ADMITTED her winless run in New York had been weighing on her mind after finally claiming her first victory since lifting the trophy four years ago.
The British number one opened the tournament on Louis Armstrong Stadium in the event’s first Sunday start and needed just 62 minutes to sweep aside Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara 6-1 6-2.
While Flushing Meadows was the scene of Raducanu’s great triumph, it has not been a place of happy memories since.
Three years ago as defending champion, she looked anxious and unhappy in a first-round loss to Alize Cornet before missing the 2023 tournament following wrist and ankle surgeries.
Last year she arrived undercooked after an injury niggle that she kept private and was in tears following another first-round defeat, this time to American Sofia Kenin.
So it was no surprise she greeted this victory with a mixture of delight and relief, saying: “I’m very pleased to have come through that match. First rounds are very challenging always, the nerves, and I think I had a little bit of the added I wanted to win a match here really bad.
“It has been on my mind. It’s been four years, and it’s a very special tournament for me. I did feel different coming into it this year. I felt like I was doing the right things day to day, but still, it’s in the back of your head. So I’m just very pleased to have overcome that.”
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Raducanu will not play again until Wednesday, with the first round spread across three days.
Elsewhere, world number one Aryna Sabalenka overcame a shaky start before asserting her dominance to reach the second round of the US Open on Sunday, defeating Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova in straight sets.
Defending champion Sabalenka – bidding to become the first woman to win back-to-back US Open titles since Serena Williams in 2014 – prevailed 7-5, 6-1 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Sabalenka though did not have it all her own way, surrendering an early break in the first set to trail 3-2.
But the Belarusian ironed out the kinks in her game rapidly, breaking back to level at 3-3, and then breaking again to take the first set.
Sabalenka trailed 0-40 on her opening service game of the second set, but flipped a switch to recover and hold before racing into a 5-0 lead.
Masarova held to delay the inevitable but Sabalenka duly closed out victory.
The 27-year-old will face unseeded Russian Polina Kudermetova in the second round.
While Sabalenka was the highest-ranked women’s player in action on Sunday, the men’s tournament saw American fourth and sixth seeds Taylor Fritz and Blake Shelton ease into the second round.
Fourth seed Fritz, last year’s beaten finalist and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon last month, sailed through with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 defeat of unseeded compatriot Emilio Nava.
Shelton progressed with a similarly comfortable 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse.
Shelton and Fritz are spearheading US hopes of a first Grand Slam men’s singles win since Andy Roddick’s victory at the 2003 US Open.
Shelton though insists he is not looking beyond the second round, where he will face either Pablo Carreno Busta or Pablo Llamas Ruiz.
“As soon as you start looking ahead, you stumble over your own feet. So just one game at a time,” he said.
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Four years after fairytale US Open title, Emma Raducanu finally wins again at Flushing Meadows
LAST UPDATE | 24 Aug 2025
EMMA RADUCANU ADMITTED her winless run in New York had been weighing on her mind after finally claiming her first victory since lifting the trophy four years ago.
The British number one opened the tournament on Louis Armstrong Stadium in the event’s first Sunday start and needed just 62 minutes to sweep aside Japanese qualifier Ena Shibahara 6-1 6-2.
While Flushing Meadows was the scene of Raducanu’s great triumph, it has not been a place of happy memories since.
Three years ago as defending champion, she looked anxious and unhappy in a first-round loss to Alize Cornet before missing the 2023 tournament following wrist and ankle surgeries.
Last year she arrived undercooked after an injury niggle that she kept private and was in tears following another first-round defeat, this time to American Sofia Kenin.
So it was no surprise she greeted this victory with a mixture of delight and relief, saying: “I’m very pleased to have come through that match. First rounds are very challenging always, the nerves, and I think I had a little bit of the added I wanted to win a match here really bad.
“It has been on my mind. It’s been four years, and it’s a very special tournament for me. I did feel different coming into it this year. I felt like I was doing the right things day to day, but still, it’s in the back of your head. So I’m just very pleased to have overcome that.”
Raducanu will not play again until Wednesday, with the first round spread across three days.
Elsewhere, world number one Aryna Sabalenka overcame a shaky start before asserting her dominance to reach the second round of the US Open on Sunday, defeating Switzerland’s Rebeka Masarova in straight sets.
Defending champion Sabalenka – bidding to become the first woman to win back-to-back US Open titles since Serena Williams in 2014 – prevailed 7-5, 6-1 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Sabalenka though did not have it all her own way, surrendering an early break in the first set to trail 3-2.
But the Belarusian ironed out the kinks in her game rapidly, breaking back to level at 3-3, and then breaking again to take the first set.
Sabalenka trailed 0-40 on her opening service game of the second set, but flipped a switch to recover and hold before racing into a 5-0 lead.
Masarova held to delay the inevitable but Sabalenka duly closed out victory.
The 27-year-old will face unseeded Russian Polina Kudermetova in the second round.
While Sabalenka was the highest-ranked women’s player in action on Sunday, the men’s tournament saw American fourth and sixth seeds Taylor Fritz and Blake Shelton ease into the second round.
Fourth seed Fritz, last year’s beaten finalist and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon last month, sailed through with a 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 defeat of unseeded compatriot Emilio Nava.
Shelton progressed with a similarly comfortable 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 defeat of Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse.
Shelton and Fritz are spearheading US hopes of a first Grand Slam men’s singles win since Andy Roddick’s victory at the 2003 US Open.
Shelton though insists he is not looking beyond the second round, where he will face either Pablo Carreno Busta or Pablo Llamas Ruiz.
“As soon as you start looking ahead, you stumble over your own feet. So just one game at a time,” he said.
Additional reporting by – © AFP 2025
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been a new york minute emma raducanu Tennis US Open