Raducanu on form ahead of US Open

TENNIS Emma _ Raducanu began her buildup towards next month's US Open with an impressive straight-sets win over seventh seed Marta Kostyuk at the Mubadala DC Citi Open in Washington.

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Playing her first singles match since stretching world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of Wimbledon, Raducanu held off the Ukrainian world number 27 to pull through a gruelling encounter 7-6 (4) 6-4.

Both players struggled on serve in a 71-minute opening set, trading early breaks before inevitably edging into a tiebreak which Raducanu won despite initially sacrificing a 4-0 lead.

The British number three, who made a rare doubles appearance alongside Elena Rybakina earlier this week, looked the fresher of the pair in tough conditions and cemented her superiority by breaking en route to establishing a 3-0 lead in the second set.