World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus needed three hours and nine minutes to vanquish 30th seed Emma Raducanu 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (5) to advance to the fourth round of the Cincinnati Open on Monday in Mason, Ohio.
Sabalenka battled past Raducanu’s 10 aces by winning 51 of her 65 first-service points (78.5 percent) as she wrapped up the fourth-longest match of her WTA career, according to the tour.
“Happy to get through this match,” an exhausted Sabalenka said in her on-court interview. “I really hope I have a day tomorrow.”
Sabalenka fell behind a break in the first set and had to rally to tie the set 6-6 before controlling the tiebreaker. In the third set, both players held serve throughout despite the eighth game featuring 13 deuces before Raducanu won.
Sabalenka was in a 2-1 hole in the ensuing tiebreaker before pulling ahead with three straight points. Raducanu tied it 4-4 before Sabalenka eked out the win.
“It was all about momentum,” Sabalenka said. “I took some risks at the end, went for crazy shots, went to the net.”
Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open champion, lost the match despite winning more total points than Sabalenka (125-122).
“I can take lessons from this,” Raducanu said. “With work and practice, I think I can hold my level higher for longer.
“She’s world No. 1 for a reason. We had a three-hour match and I felt pretty good out there for the most part.”
Joining Sabalenka in the Round of 16 is No. 3 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland, who advanced via walkover against No. 25 seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
Sabalenka’s next opponent will be Spaniard Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, who was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over Taylor Townsend.
Swiatek will face Romania’s Sorana Cirstea, who rallied past China’s Yue Yuan 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4. Cirstea fired off nine aces without a double fault. She also saved 7 of 12 break points.
No. 28 seed Anna Kalinskaya of Russia upset No. 5 seed Amanda Anisimova 7-5, 6-4. She’ll face countrywoman and No. 12 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, who defeated Australia’s Maya Joint 6-4, 6-3.
In evening action, sixth-seeded Madison Keys rolled past Japan’s Aoi Ito 6-4, 6-0, and ninth-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan edged 19th-seeded Elise Mertens of Belgium 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
–Field Level Media
