Stuttgart Open: Emma Raducanu falls to top seed Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
- Emma Raducanu’s journey at the Stuttgart Open comes to an end as she falls to top seed Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, highlighting the intensity of competition in the tennis tournament.
Despite putting up a fierce fight against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, Emma Raducanu was eliminated from the Stuttgart Open.
The British player Raducanu, who is still making progress after an injury-plagued 2023 season, fell short against the Polish clay-court expert 7-6 (7-2) 6-3.
Swiatek has won the last two WTA 500 tournaments, and she is now riding a 10-match winning streak in Stuttgart.
Next up for her is Elena Rybakina, the fourth seed from Kazakhstan.
Raducanu, 21, has triumphed against three-time major champions Angelique Kerber and Linda Noskova before helping Britain defeat France in the Billie Jean King Cup this past weekend.
She fell to 303rd in the world rankings in 2023 after having wrist and ankle surgeries; however, her run to the quarterfinals in Stuttgart will propel her back up the rankings.
When asked if she believed Raducanu could compete at the highest level again, Swiatek responded, “I hope she will be able to do it because, for sure, she has the game for it.”
Against Swiatek, 22, Raducanu had an incredible start, rallying from a 40-0 deficit to break the reigning champion’s opening serve game.
The four-time major champion fought back right away and kept trying to break Raducanu’s serve in the opening set, but the British player held strong to force a tie-break.
Raducanu appeared to lose confidence after tumbling down the clay floor, but Swiatek quickly won the tiebreak and delivered the first blow in the second set to lead 3-1.
After a demanding two hours and four minutes on the court, Swiatek prevailed thanks to a single break of serve in the second set. However, the 2021 US Open winner recovered to divert three break points in the fifth game.
“It was a pretty intense match so I am happy I was able to keep the intensity even though we played tough games for over two hours,” Swiatek stated.
“It wasn’t easy, I had a lot of break points that I couldn’t convert.”
Gauff and Sabalenka battle in Stuttgart
Rybakina secured her place in the final four earlier on Friday, taking over Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.
Across the draw, world no. 2 Aryna Sabalenka was defeated by Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova in a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory.
Since winning the Australian Open in January, Sabalenka has never advanced past the quarterfinals of a competition.
The Belarusian, who finished second in the previous three Stuttgart competitions, made 48 unintentional mistakes and only converted six of her fifteen break points.
The sixth-seeded Czech, Vondrousova, will next face Marta Kostyuk, who defeated US Open winner Coco Gauff to earn her second consecutive top-10 victory.
American Gauff won the first set quickly in 36 minutes, but Kostyuk—who on Thursday defeated Zheng Qinwen, the fifth seed from China—came back to win the second and third sets 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).
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