Emma Raducanu, Elena Rybakina make winning start at DC Open after missing out on four match points

Britain’s Emma Raducanu had a winning start to her doubles campaign at the DC Open. The 22-year-old is competing in both the singles and doubles categories. In the doubles category, she and her partner Elena Rybakina made a winning start as they came out on top against the pair of Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls with a score of 2-6, 7-6, 11-9.

The scoreline does not tell a clear story as in the deciding tiebreak. Raducanu and Rybakina had four match points as they were up 9-5. However, they failed to capitalise on any of them and the score quickly became 9-9. The two managed to get their act together and eventually got over the line. Overall, in the match, the winning pair committed two double faults, three fewer than Mihalikova and Nicholls. Raducanu and Rybakina managed to win both tiebreaks, but overall, their points tally was 68, four less than the losing pair.

The win is an important one for both players, but especially for Raducanu, who came into the competition on the back of not-so-great run. Her most recent outing was at Wimbledon, where she featured in the singles category and lost to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the third round in straight sets with a score of 7-6, 6-4. Despite that result, former Britain’s number one Tim Henman backed Raducanu to have an impressive run in America, where she lifted her only Grand Slam back in 2021. Henman was of the opinion that Raducanu is now a much better player than she was when she lifted her only major title, and if she manages to stay fit, there is no reason why she will not be able to produce good results on the court.

“She’s a much better player than she was in 2021 because she’s had four more years of experience and now she’s started to build more of a team around her,” said Henman while speaking to Sky Sports News. “She’s been competing so much more this year, which therefore emphasises the physical resilience that she’s got because she was always getting injuries. So I just hope she can continue in that vein because if she keeps doing the right things on the practice court, the results will come on the match because she’s that good a player. And I think it was great to see her on the biggest stage in our sport against the number one player in the world. She had a really good chance to win that match and I’m sure that will motivate her now moving onto the hardcourt swing in America to keep building.”

The win is also important for both players, considering that the US Open mixed doubles event is less than a month away. For the first time, the fourth Grand Slam of the year will be played in two separate parts. The first part will feature the mixed doubles event, which will be played as a standalone competition and will have a prize money of $1 million. Raducanu is set to partner with Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, the men’s world number two, whereas Rybakina will partner with America’s Taylor Fritz.

Raducanu will start her singles campaign in the US with a difficult contest against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk. It will be the fourth meeting between the two players. In the previous three meetings, Kostyuk had an edge, having won on two occasions. Their most recent meeting took place in the round of 64 at the Madrid Masters, where Kostyuk emerged victorious with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. On the other hand, Rybakina is also participating in the singles category at the DC Open and will play her first match against Canada’s Victoria Mboko on Wednesday.