Elena Rybakina swats aside Emma Raducanu in US Open third round humbling

One of the most hotly anticipated matches of the day at the US Open came early on but was a bit of a non event as Emma Raducanu was swept aside by an emphatic Elena Rybakina who continues to dazzle into the fourth round in New York 6-1, 6-2.

Rybakina held a solitary win over Raducanu previously and that was back in 2022 and it was a similar sort of scoreline to the 6-0, 6-2 that day too. Having controversial coach Stefano Vukov back at the US Open, Rybakina swatted aside Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati when he returned before falling to Iga Swiatek.

Raducanu has targeted finding a way past the big names but Rybakina's game is a bit of a conundrum as often she is superb but also doesn't find the titles or success of others so is hard to work out when it comes to where she stands compared to Swiatek and Sabalenka and the like. But on her day, she is up there with the best.

It was one of those days as Rybakina had her all at sea. She dictated the points early on having Raducanu scurrying back and forth in the first set. She forced Raducanu into a desparation forehand and then took advantage with a break of serve at the first opportunity. She consolidated the break of serve with a hold to 30 to gain full control at 3-0 up.

Raducanu grew but humbled

Raducanu finally got herself on the board in a nerve settler but those nerves were ramped up again. Rybakina continued to assert herself from the back of the court and moved ahead with a hold. A double break was brought up with Raducanu continuing to struggle. After 22 minutes on court, she was one game away from taking the set.

Raducanu wasn't playing too badly in reality as Rybakina just looked too good with superb timing and her groundstrokes in the corners were a marvel to hold. She was taking control from the moment the rally started and she then took the opening set.

But while Raducanu suddenly needed a kick from somewhere, she wasn't going to get it fast as Rybakina got a break point immediately to start the second set. From 40-0 to deuce thanks to three unforced errors, the second serves were needed by Raducanu and Rybakina pounced to bring up a break point.

Raducanu saved break point with an ace but a forehand down the line saw Rybakina seal a second break point. One she took as Rybakina was gifted the game as such by Raducanu with five unforced errors in one game. Only 58% of her first serves went in and Rybakina didn't even need to try to get it complete.

Rybakina went back to her serve and looked unstoppable with a no-nonsense hold to consolidate the break. Raducanu held with a couple of nice forehand winners but was still down a break and this allowed Rybakina to streak away.

When it looked like she was going to get somewhere Rybakina held to get back on track in the set and go 4-2 up and only two games away. This gave her real confidence as Rybakina got another break chance to go one away. Raducanu swiped her racquet in frustration as she conceded the break and finally she had to succumb as Rybakina served for the match and took it at the first opportunity. A humbling for Raducanu at the hands of the Kazakh.

Match Statistics Rybakina vs. Raducanu