Emma Raducanu trounces Serena Williams in Cincinnati opener; Venus, Osaka exit in first round

Cincinnati: Serena Williams bowed out of the WTA/ATP Cincinnati Masters at the first hurdle on Tuesday, losing in straight sets to US Open champion Emma Raducanu as the end of her glittering career looms ever closer.

Williams, who last week indicated that she is planning to retire after this month’s US Open, was no match for British teenager Raducanu, who romped to a 6-4, 6-0 win.

The 40-year-old Williams left the court swiftly after the defeat without speaking to television reporters and did not hold a press conference.

Raducanu broke Williams at the start of both sets to claim victory in what was her first and likely last meeting with the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion.

“I was nervous from the first point to the last,” Raducanu said. “Serena is dangerous and can come back from any situation.

“I had to stay focused. I’m so pleased I managed to keep my composure.”

mood: @naomiosaka 🙌#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/rGywN6j7V2

— wta (@WTA) August 16, 2022

Williams, winner of titles here in 2014 and 2015, was competing in only her fourth match of 2022 after starting her season at Wimbledon due to injury .

Raducanu announced her intentions from the start with a break to love of Williams and never let up.

The young Briton improved to 14 wins, 17 defeats since winning the Open last September from a qualifying start.

Raducanu meanwhile said she was honoured to be part of the spectacle on Tuesday in what was one of Williams’ final games as a professional.

‘Honour Serena’

Emma Raducanu starts her on-court interview by saying:

“I think we need to just honour Serena and her amazing career.”

Tells the crowd: “Even when you were cheering for her, I was all for it”

— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) August 17, 2022

“We all need to honour Serena and her amazing career,” she said. “I’m so grateful for the experience of playing her and for the fact that our careers have crossed.

“All she has achieved is inspirational. It’s a true honour to share the court with her.”

Raducanu never let Williams into the match.

The young Londoner seeded 10th took a 4-1 lead in the opening set and completely swept the second, advancing on her first match point, an unreturnable serve.

Raducanu committed a single unforced error in the opening set compared to a dozen for Williams.

Williams’ elder sister Venus took a 7-5, 6-1 loss earlier in the day, losing to 2016 champion Karolina Pliskova.

In the men’s draw of the joint event, Nick Kyrgios began the last major US Open tune-up with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

The Australian marched through with 29 winners - including 10 aces - and three breaks of the Spaniard’s serve to reach the second round.

The 28th-ranked Kyrgios has won all 11 of his first-round matches this season and won his 22nd match since returning to the ATP in June after skipping the clay season.

He now faces good friend Taylor Fritz after the American crushed Sebastian Baez 6-1, 6-1.

“Physically, I didn’t feel the best, but you have to keep pushing, keep trying,” Kyrgios said.

“Alejandro’s a hell of a player, he’s got a lot of shots at his disposal. I had to serve well and dictate,” the Montreal quarter-finalist added. “It was tricky conditions out there, the courts are a lot more lively than Montreal, it was harder to control the ball.”

It marked a happy return to Cincinnati for Kyrgios, who was fined a record $113,000 during a spectacular meltdown at the tournament in 2019.

“I’ve played some amazing tennis here and had some crazy outbursts,” he said.  “It’s a flip of the coin as to which Kyrgios shows up here.”

Elsewhere, Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz advanced in his tournament debut, defeating American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-2.

Italian 10th seed Jannik Sinner celebrated his 21st birthday by beating Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6).

Venus, Osaka exit Cincinnati in first round

Getting down low and creating a stunning angle 😍@Venuseswilliams | #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/HpqOUTZq4i

— wta (@WTA) August 16, 2022

Venus Williams and Naomi Osaka both exited on Tuesday with straight-set, opening-round losses. Williams, 42, who won her last match at the Midwestern pre-US Open event in 2019, lost to 2016 champion Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-1.

Osaka’s summer form slump deepened meanwhile as the four-time Grand Slam winner was defeated 6-4, 7-5 by China’s Zhang Shuai.

Pliskova, one of the game’s biggest servers, struck eight aces and broke four times in a win over Williams lasting for nearly one and three-quarter hours. Williams, semi-finalist from a decade ago, has gone winless in her last five matches, last earning a victory in the Wimbledon first round.

Pliskova said she had to lift her level to run away with the second set. “Venus is a great champion, she’s a fighter with a big game and big serve,” the Czech said. “She played well at certain points in the first set, I’m feeling physically strong so I was able to up my game in the second set.”

This is Naomi Osaka’s first time losing her opening match at back-to-back tournaments since Canada and #CincyTennis in 2018.

She then won her next event, the US Open. 🤷

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 16, 2022

Osaka’s first-round defeat was the second in as many weeks for Japan’s former world number one, now ranked 39th.

The 24-year-old was eliminated in the Toronto first round and has won just a single match out of four on cement – at the WTA Silicon Valley in July.

World number 44 Zhang moved into the second round in 75 minutes as she won her first main draw match here since 2014.

The Chinese player was on the winning Cincinnati doubles team in 2021 and claimed US Open doubles honours in 2021 with Australian Sam Stosur.

The 33-year-old Zhang was broken while serving for the match as Osaka pulled to five-all; a subsequent break of the crowd favourite and a hold to love by Zhang concluded the victory.

“It was a really good win for me,” Zhang said. “At the start I was not feeling my serve but at the baseline I played very well.

“I tried to focus on myself today.

“It’s always tough to pay a really good friend. Naomi is amazing but she didn’t have the best day today.”

The win brings Zhang level at 3-3 in her series with Osaka.

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