Emma Raducanu will look to continue her ruthless streak on Louis Armstrong Stadium when the British No 1 takes on her good friend and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina at the US Open on Sky Sports at 4pm Friday.

Raducanu swept aside in-form qualifier Janice Tjen to reach the third round in exactly an hour having already raced to victory over another qualifier, Ena Shibahara.

The British No 1 is playing with a strong serve backed up by precision groundstrokes, tactical acumen and excellent movement.

She will need all those to be on point against Rybakina, but the 2021 champion will rightly feel that she can be a significant obstacle for anyone in the draw.

The 22-year-old has brought her level up a couple of notches this year, reaching the Washington Open semi-finals and taking world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka to the brink at Wimbledon and Cincinnati.

“She’s been at the top of the game for so long and very dominant and has big weapons, has a huge serve and big groundstrokes. So I do want to see how my game suits and fits against the top [players],” said Raducanu of Rybakina.

“I still think I have a long way to go, but I have been making steps towards getting closer and narrowing that gap. I think I have to take confidence from my matches against Aryna.

“But Elena is a different opponent. She beat Aryna in Cincinnati in straight sets. It’s going to be a tough match.”

Raducanu’s only previous match against Rybakina resulted in the joint-most one-sided loss of her career, with the Kazakh winning 6-0 6-1 in Sydney three years ago.

Raducanu and Rybakina became friendly when the British No 1 was working with Russian coach Dmitry Tursunov, and they played doubles together in Washington last month.

“She’s a tough competitor. She’s been playing really well lately,” said Rybakina of Raducanu. “It’s definitely going to be a difficult battle. I’ll try to do my best, improve my form from today. Let’s see how it goes.”

Henman: Raducanu is absolutely crushing the ball

Raducanu was seen on Thursday warming up by playing football in the parking lot, before heading to the practice courts ahead of Friday’s clash.

Sky Sports‘ Tim Henman said: “I think it’s all a good sign that Emma is playing well on the court but she’s having fun off the court. That is part of the challenge when you’re on the road so much.

“I am personally not someone that reads into practice a great deal, certainly on a day off. She’s played a lot of tennis. But just to see her out there, she’s absolutely crushing the ball. The ball striking has always been good, but there’s more speed, she’s taking it early.

“She’s making those incremental improvements all the time and when you think about the match-up against Rybakina in the third round, she’s another huge ball striker. I’m sure they’ll go toe to toe from the back of the court. It’s whether Raducanu can bring in that little bit of variation.”

Norrie takes on Djokovic from midnight on Sky Sports

Cameron Norrie believes the odds are slowly turning in his favour as he prepares for another crack at Novak Djokovic – from midnight on Friday.

Their meeting in the third round will be the sixth time they have played each other, with Norrie so far losing all six and winning just two sets.

But, at 38, Djokovic is not the force he was and he has not looked comfortable in his first two matches in New York, dropping sets against Learner Tien and Zachary Svajda and struggling physically.

“I will say the chances are getting better as the years get on – I would not say by much,” said Norrie.

“But the level he brings, the competitiveness he brings, is crazy. Every time I’ve played him, he’s changing his tactics and making it really difficult for me to play.

“So I’m just ready for anything. Him to play unreal. Him to play not great. Him to be stopping the match for something and then playing really good. I think he’s so, so good at competing and tactics. He’s amazing.

“It’s going to be very tough. I’m going to have to play close to my best to have a chance with him. I’ve never played on Arthur Ashe here.

“It’s probably the only big court in tennis that I’ve never played. Hopefully I get to play on that one.

“I’m so happy to be with my team and to be enjoying New York and getting the chance to have a crack at one of the best players in history.

“I think the chances are greater for me to win the match than in previous years or in previous form for him.”

At the French Open this spring, Norrie was brushed aside by Djokovic in the fourth round, but the British No 2 is confident in his game plan.

“I’m going to have to beat him with physicality,” said Norrie. “I’m going to have to beat him with my game, my tennis.

“I’m not going to be going out and being a serve bot and hitting him off the court. I’m going to stick to the way I’m playing and really, really make it as physical as I can.”

Djokovic came into the US Open without having played a match since Wimbledon, and Norrie will hope to exploit a blister on the Serbian’s foot.

Djokovic has cut a downbeat figure so far in New York, but he said after coming from a set down to beat Svajda: “It’s not a motivation thing.

“It’s just me a bit frustrated with my game and then I kind of go through stuff internally that… you don’t want to know the details what I’m going through and telling myself.

“It’s not like I’m not finding joy on the court competing. I enjoy competing, but I don’t enjoy not playing well. That’s why I put extra pressure on myself and my team to be better the next day, the next match.”

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