On a rain-marred and heavily humid Thursday at the Citi Open in the American capital, Washington DC, Emma Raducanu pipped Camila Osorio to reach the quarters. The Briton, seeded second in the draw, claimed a 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win in 10 minutes shy of three hours.
Both players struggled with their serve, with the Colombian hitting seven double faults and Raducanu finishing with nine. In terms of first-serve points won, Osorio did better winning 60% to her opponent’s 55%. However, Raducanu was able to win more points on return on Osorio’s second serve – 60%, which accounted for determining the outcome of the match. Both players dropped their serve four times across the match.
Citi Open: Xiyu Wang moves on
Following her win, Raducanu spoke about the prevalent conditions. She said, “Honestly three hours in that condition, I think that I probably played in Landisville, Pennsylvania, last year, and I’d say there it was probably worse conditions, but I wasn’t out there for three hours with the length of rallies that I was out there today. So, conditions-wise it was probably hotter and tougher over there, but match-wise I think it’s got to be one of the most physical matches I have ever played.”
She will take on Liudmila Samsonova for a chance to make it to the semi-finals. In her second-round match against Ajla Tomljanovic, Samsonova needed two hours and 14 minutes to come from down a set and oust the Australian, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Lastly, Xiyu Wang also reached the quarter-finals of the Citi Open. The 95th-ranked Wang needed two hours and 26 minutes to notch a comeback win of her own against Donna Vekic, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. She awaits either Tereza Martincova or fourth seed Victoria Azarenka. Their match had to be postponed to Friday after rain forced the suspension of play on Thursday.
Photo Credit: Citi Open Twitter