As the great tennis sage Charles Barkley years ago As memorable as it was said, “We had a great time here, not a long time.” Serena Williams played against Emma Raducanu at the Cincinnati Western and Southern Open on Tuesday night. It was the same in the game, where she was out 6-4, 6-0 within an hour and five minutes.
This is like a As the No. 1 seed and unseeded player in the U.S. Open warm-up may always be: On the one hand, Serena is a global sports legend and times Grand Slam champion; Raducanu, on the other hand, It was all but an unknown until last year’s U.S. Open took home the trophy through qualifying and the main draw. But while the first set of the first match between the two was largely competitive, with Serena leaning on her booming serve and punishing hits, the second set was all Raducanu , he had exactly zero unforced errors in that set (and only one in the first set).
also That said, oddly enough, this was probably the best Serena could ask for. She’s been on the farewell tour, if it’s shorthand (before Cincinnati, she won her first round in Toronto, then went out in the second) and appears to be nursing a sore leg; if she keeps winning, She will have to play again every day of the game. Given that her true swan song has always been in preparation for the U.S. Open, withdrawing from Cincinnati early gave her time to heal and fine-tune her game for an epic send-off in New York.
This A day that was noteworthy for a couple of other outings: Serena’s sister Venus also lost to Karolina Pliskova, while the recent phenomenon known as Coco Gauff has been in tears after she sprained her ankle against Marie Bouzkova. Do not quit the game. But let’s not kid ourselves: we’ve been watching these last two games to trace history and witness legends.
Maybe Raducanu summed up the spirit of the night in his post-game comments. Did she enjoy this hard-won victory? Is she looking forward to the next opponent? Maybe — but that’s not the big deal: “I can’t believe I just played Serena Williams,” she said, seeming in awe.
