Emma Raducanu’s US Open run ended by Elena Rybakina

Raducanu had breezed through to the third round, winning her first two matches for the loss of only six games, but here she was on the receiving end as Rybakina powered to a 6-1 6-2 victory in just 62 minutes.

Rybakina may only be seeded ninth but everyone on the women’s tour knows she is virtually unstoppable when on her game, with the Kazakh having beaten world number one Aryna Sabalenka in her last tournament in Cincinnati for the loss of just five games.

She has been usurped by Coco Gauff as part of the big three of women’s tennis with Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek after a difficult year, with her long-time coach Stefano Vukov having been suspended following allegations of mistreatment against her.

Rybakina has stood staunchly by Vukov and his suspension was lifted earlier this month, allowing him to return to her team at tournaments.

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Raducanu is friendly with Rybakina – the pair played doubles together in Washington recently – and the 26-year-old’s strengths would certainly have come as no surprise.

Their only previous meeting in Sydney in 2022 was the joint most one-sided defeat of Raducanu’s career, the then teenager winning just a single game.

Things did not begin more positively here as Rybakina immediately found her groove, rushing Raducanu with her monstrous groundstrokes and quickly moving into a 3-0 lead.

Among Raducanu’s supporters was Vogue editorial director Anna Wintour, and the crowd were right behind her when she got on the board in the fourth game.

But the 22-year-old could not get a foothold in the match, with Rybakina breaking serve again to lead 5-1.

Blowing a 40-0 lead in the opening game of the second set as Rybakina made it four games in a row was a huge setback for Raducanu, who went into the match with confidence having twice pushed Sabalenka close – in the third round of Wimbledon and then in Cincinnati.

But this was reminiscent of her heavy losses to Swiatek in Australia and Paris, with Raducanu’s serve not the weapon it can be. Rybakina broke again to put herself on the brink of victory and needed just one match point.

Raducanu will surely feel that her grand slam season could have been a lot more successful with kinder draws but she should still be optimistic about her progress as a whole.

The British number one has few rankings points to defend during the rest of the season and her priority must be trying to push her ranking back towards the top 20 to avoid these kind of early matches in the biggest tournaments.

Raducanu also appears settled and happy in her work with new coach Francisco Roig – the positive atmosphere on the practice court has certainly been noticeable – and the hope must be that this partnership endures.