By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – American Sofia Kenin sent former champion Emma Raducanu packing in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday with a 6-1 3-6 6-4 victory at the Grandstand.
Kenin, the 2020 Australian Open winner, put on an aggressive display with six aces and 45 winners to set up a meeting with either Jessica Pegula or Shelby Rogers.
Britain’s Raducanu has struggled to recapture the magic of her fairytale run through New York three years ago when she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam and she was no match for Kenin’s firepower.
Kenin ripped through the opening set by winning six straight games after Raducanu’s routine hold, as she fended off all three break points she face with a rowdy crowd cheering her name repeatedly throughout the match.
Raducanu, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon this year, upped her level in the second set and got the critical break in the fifth game.
She broke the American again with a forehand winner to close out the set but then ran out of steam, dropping serve with a double fault in the fifth game of the decider before Kenin went on to seal victory with a hold to love in the final game.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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