2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu wins a match in New York for the 1st time since her title

NEW YORK (AP) — Emma Raducanu finally ended her winless rut at the U.S. Open, earning her first victory at the Grand Slam tournament since taking the 2021 title there as an 18-year-old qualifier, eliminating Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2 in just 62 minutes on Sunday.

“Of course, I’m very, very pleased,” Raducanu said, noting that it had been a while since she came out on the right side of a score in New York, “so it’s extra special.”

After her surprising championship four years ago, which remains her only tour-level trophy, Raducanu lost in the first round at Flushing Meadows in 2022, missed the tournament in 2023 — when she had operations on both of her wrists and an ankle — and again exited in her opening match a year ago.

“First rounds are always difficult, especially at a Slam,” Raducanu said Sunday. “There are always nerves.”

But Raducanu, who is now 22, has been enjoying something of a renaissance this season, putting in strong performances, even in a pair of losses to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, and lifting her ranking from outside the top 70 to No. 36 this week, leaving the 22-year-old from Britain just outside the seedings at the U.S. Open.

On a partly cloudy and breezy morning, Raducanu came out strong in the day’s first match at Louis Armstrong Stadium, needing just 40 minutes to lead by a set and two breaks at 3-0 in the second.

With her new coach, Francisco Roig, who worked with 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal for many years, sitting near a corner of the court and constantly offering positive reinforcement, Raducanu’s groundstrokes frequently rushed Shibahara, a qualifier from Japan who is ranked 128th.

“Vamos!” Roig said at one point. “You’re doing very good.”

Shibahara hadn’t dropped a set through her three qualifying wins — and Raducanu knows better than anyone what sort of momentum can be gained from that sort of prelude to the main draw. Raducanu is the only tennis player to win a Grand Slam title after needing to go through qualifying to earn a spot in the tournament bracket.

Since that life-altering triumph, though, things haven’t gone to plan for Raducanu. In 2022, she became only the third reigning women’s champion in the professional era to lose in the first round a year later, after Svetlana Kuznetsova and Angelique Kerber.

And then came several injury issues.

Raducanu is healthy now, and she showed what she can do when at her best against an overmatched opponent.

She faced only one break point — and saved it.

She made only six unforced errors — and made headway by allowing Shibahara to finish with 36.

“Managed myself, managed my game, during that match,” Raducanu said. “I see the progress I’m making on the practice court.”

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