A first-time clash between two former Grand Slam champions for a quarterfinal berth in the D.C. Open gave a reminder of their excellence as both try to climb back into the upper echelon of the WTA Tour.
Emma Raducanu, the 2021 U.S. Open winner, and Naomi Osaka, with four major titles to her name, brought marquee-level anticipation for their second-round match in Rock Creek Park Thursday.
“It’s a match that I feel a lot of people were talking about beforehand,” Raducanu said. “I knew that ahead of the match. I quite like these kind of matchups where you’re playing a great opponent, a lot of people have eyes on the match. They’re into it. I enjoy it.”
The level of play, unfortunately, didn’t rise to a Grand Slam level, with Raducanu advancing comfortably in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
“I knew going into the match that Naomi has been playing good [and] loves the hard court, so I was going to have to play well and manage my own service games,” Raducanu said, “because she’s very dangerous, hits a big ball, and serves extremely well.”
Osaka, who won all four of her Slams on the hard courts of Melbourne and Queens between 2018 and 2021, was disappointed in the loss but not necessarily in her overall play.
“Honestly, I didn’t think it was that bad,” she said. “I just think, you know, obviously my serve could have been better, but weirdly kind of okay with how I played.”
Raducanu, now in the quarterfinals for the third time in as many appearances in D.C., was able to take advantage of Osaka’s less-powerful second serve, winning 19 of 28 points on it in the match.
When she lands her first serve,” Raducanu said, “it’s very difficult to do anything, but the second-serve opportunities that I was getting, I was happy with the second set how I started finding a better rhythm on it.”
Osaka’s round of 16 showing here will bump her just inside of the top 50 for the fourth time this year as she returns to form after the birth of her daughter, Shai, in 2023 and after taking a pause from tennis to focus on her mental health in the years following her Slam titles.
“I know I haven’t been to D.C. in a very long time, so just to have people come out and cheer, it really means a lot,” Osaka said. “The U.S. fans have kind of like embraced me as one of their own, so it’s a really good feeling.”
Raducanu dealt with similar struggles after reaching as high as No. 10 in the world following her U.S. Open title. The Brit will have diligently worked her way back into the top 40 after her results this week.
“The results are so fleeting. Even if you win the U.S. Open, you’re great for about a few days, and then straight back to it, straight back to work,” said Raducanu, who will play 2023 D.C. finalist Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals on Friday. “It’s such an unforgiving schedule … even if you win a Grand Slam and you lose because you’re tired the next week, you still feel bad because you lost.”
In the men’s draw, big hitting American Ben Shelton smacked 16 aces en route to another quick, straight-set win, this time over Canadian Gabriel Diallo. In his two D.C. matches, he’s been on court for exactly two hours — 59 and 61 minutes, respectively — making efficient work of his opponents
“I guess there’s two ways to think about it. Yeah, it’s good for me in the short term right now to get off the court quick and be ready for my next match, which is tomorrow. If you keep winning here, you play every day,” Shelton said. “But in the long term, getting court time, getting used to being out in that heat, regardless, you get to the U.S. Open, you’re going to be out there for three hours at some point if not longer.”
Shelton won an astronomical 93% of his first-serve points. So powerful was the Georgia native that he implored the chair umpire in advance of the match to warn front-row fans to be alert for stray tennis balls in the wake of his aces.
“The first [fast serve] I’m looking at him, like, ’Bro, I told you,’” Shelton said. “Then he made the announcement later, which these fences in the back are really low and it is a hazard, and he should have said something, especially because I told him, and he didn’t believe me, but it is what it is.”
No. 8 Daniil Medvedev, No. 7 Alex de Minaur, No. 12 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, No. 14 Brandon Nakashima and lucky loser Corentin Moutet all joined Shelton in the ATP quarterfinals with wins Thursday afternoon.
• George Gerbo can be reached at ggerbo@washingtontimes.com.
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