Tennis Rejuvenated Raducanu edged out by world No1 Sabalenka

EMMA Raducanu was knocked out of the Cincinnati Open after a battling performance saw her slip to a narrow third-round defeat against world number one Aryna Sabalenka, writes Rebecca Johnson.

- Rebecca Johnson

Monday's match was the pair’s second meeting of the year after Sabalenka edged to victory in their third-round encounter at Wimbledon.

Another thrilling outing followed in Cincinnati, where an incredibly tight match lasting over three hours saw Raducanu take the 27-year-old to a third-set tiebreak.

In a tense finale, Sabalenka emerged victorious to clinch a 7-6 (3) 4-6 7-6 (5) win.

Raducanu’s path to the third round of the competition saw her beat Olga Danilovic in the previous match, her first since Rafael Nadal’s former coach Francis Roig joined her team. The British number one made a quick start, earning her first break point in the second game of the opening set, before Sabalenka responded with a break of her own and soon levelled the score.