Emma Raducanu was knocked out in the third round of the US Open as she lost in straight sets to a rampant Elena Rybakina on Friday. 

The 2021 Flushing Meadows champion has teased a return to contention in recent months but was unable to tame the power of former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, who raced to a 6-1 6-2 win in little over an hour.

Rybakina will now advance to face either 2024 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova or Italian seventh seed Jasmine Paolini.

It concludes another tournament in which there were yet more positive signs for Raducanu, who has impressed during the hard court season after seeing her progress marred by cruel injury setbacks in recent years.

In reaching the last 16 it marks a career-best performance at the US Open for Rybakina having never before made it beyond the third round.

“Really happy with the performance, it’s not easy playing against Emma,” said Rybakina in her on-court interview.

“The score doesn’t show, she’s a tough competitor and I’m happy with how I played and looking forward to the next match.

“Throughout the years for some reason the US Open wasn’t successful for me but hopefully that changes this year and hopefully I can go as far as possible.”

Build-up had centred around Raducanu’s ability to neutralise the serving power coming her way, with Rybakina having asserted herself as one of the dominant forces from the baseline on tour.

What beckoned as a gruelling battle proved exactly that as Rybakina recorded a first serve win percentage of 82 while crunching in 11 winners on her way to winning the first set 6-1.

Raducanu had sought to attack the slightly more predictable and high-bouncing second serve of her opponent, only for Rybakina to win eight of 14 second serve points.

The second set then got off to a nightmare start for Raducanu when she squandered a 40-0 lead on serve to surrender an immediate break in what would set the tone for the remainder of the match.

With every glimpse of a Raducanu moment came a fierce Rybakina response, the latter winning 90 per cent of first serve points and 70 per cent of second serve points while denying the Brit a single break point in a comprehensive second set.

While a disappointing exit for Raducanu, it also represented the performance of a firm favourite to clinch the title at this year’s US Open.

Rybakina – who recently reached the semi-finals in Cincinnati, Montreal and Washington DC – moves onto the second week of a Grand Slam for the 10th time as she seeks her second major crown.

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