(Reuters) -World number one Aryna Sabalenka kept her Cincinnati Open title defence alive as she claimed a thrilling 7-6(3) 4-6 7-6(5) victory over Emma Raducanu in a marathon third-round clash on Monday.
Fresh off their third-round clash at Wimbledon last month, Sabalenka and Raducanu produced another epic contest, featuring a 13-deuce game in the third set, before the Belarusian sealed victory in three hours and nine minutes.
Sabalenka relied on her trademark powerful serve to hold firm in the key moments, winning two tiebreaks to take her tally to 18 for the season, the most by any women’s singles player in the professional era.
Despite the defeat, Raducanu seems to be finding her best form just in time for this month’s U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows, where she triumphed in 2021. The Briton outscored Sabalenka in total points won, 125–123.
“I’m really happy to see her healthy. I can see she’s improving,” Sabalenka said of Raducanu.
“Happy to get through this match. I really hope tomorrow I have a day off.”
Sabalenka next faces Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the last 16.
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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