Emma Raducanu “Growing in Confidence” as She Bids for Her First Final Since 2021 at the Citi Open

Emma Raducanu is into her first tour-level semi-final since 2024 at the Washington Open.

Emma Raducanu “Growing in Confidence” as She Bids for Her First Final Since 2021 at the Citi Open

Emma Raducanu (via X/Citi Open)

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Emma Raducanu continued her fine run at the Washington Open following her straight-set victory over Maria Sakkari. The former World No.10 now leads the Greek star 3-0 in their head-to-head record. After the win, Raducanu revealed that her confidence on the court has been growing since March.

Raducanu has been a different player since the Miami Open in March, where she reached her first WTA 1000 quarter-finals. The former US Open champion earned her first top 10 in over two years after beating Emma Navarro in the second round of the tournament. She also went on to reach the fourth round of the Italian Open for the first time in her career.

She continued with her consistent progress on the court at the Wimbledon Championships, where she knocked out the 2023 champion Marketa Vondrousova in the second round. She then put up a decent performance against Aryna Sabalenka, despite losing in straight sets. At Washington, she continued with the form, upsetting the seventh seed Marta Kostyuk in the first round.

The World No.46 then went on to defeat four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in the second round. She faced former World No.3 Maria Sakkari for a place in the semi-final on Friday (July 25). She won the first set pretty comfortably, but in the second set, she had to recover from 2-5 down to win the match 6-4, 7-5.

She’s now seeking to reach her first final since the 2021 US Open. After the victory over Sakkari, she revealed that her confidence has been growing since the Miami Open. She added that her hard work off the court has eased some pressure on her:

I think my confidence has been growing since the Miami Open, the amount of work I do behind closed doors eases some pressure off the results I achieve. I am very focused on training and gym work, working intensely to secure victories like this one. Today, I am very happy to have overcome this match because Sakkari played amazingly, and these conditions suit her lively style of play.

Raducanu will face Anna Kalinskaya in the semi-finals on Saturday (July 26) in Washington. They will be meeting for the first time on tour. Nonetheless, Raducanu is set to jump 14 places in the WTA rankings and will be World No.32 next week even if she loses her semi-final clash against Kalinskaya.

Emma Raducanu plays down worrying physical conditions after reaching the Washington Open semi-final

Hours after Emma Raducanu defeated Maria Sakkari in the quarter-finals of the Washington Open singles, the British star took to the court alongside Elena Rybakina in the doubles category. The pair then retired while losing 1-4 against doubles specialist Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai in the semi-finals of the WTA 500 tournament.

Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu (Image via X/British Tennis Players)

Raducanu also underwent some medical checks during the second set of her match against Sakkari. She revealed during her press conference that it was the intense temperature that led to her feeling unwell in the singles quarter-finals clash:

Playing is hard in this heat, but watching the match from the stands is even harder, so I appreciate the people who stayed to watch it. Simply, you have to embrace the suffering, as bad as it may sound. You have to give your all on the court until you collapse.

The last time Raducanu reached a semi-final tour-level tournament was at the Nottingham Open last year during the grass-court season. She will hope to beat World No.39 Anna Kalinskaya in the last four and get to the final of the tournament to face the winner between Rybakina and Leylah Fernandez.

Also Read: Frances Tiafoe Looks Forward to A “No Friends” Clash Against Ben Shelton in the Quarter-Finals of the Citi Open