Raducanu v Rybakina live: US Open 2025 score and latest updates from blockbuster third-round clash – UK Times

Raducanu’s own serve was firing wonderfully in the second round against Janice Tjen but Rybakina’s first two returns offers a completely different weight of shot, and Raducanu can’t reply.

Encouraging to see Raducanu taking a couple of steps forward when facing the Rybakina second serve and looking to take it on.

Rybakina flashes a couple of forehand winers on both sides and then fires the first unreturned serve – there will be many more of them I’m sure.

Raducanu’s bunted return drifts long and Rybakina holds.

Rybakina’s serve is one of the biggest on the WTA – perhaps the biggest in the women’s game – and when it’s firing the former Wimbledon champion can beat anyone in the world.

But she’s not always consistent and Raducanu will be full of belief after arriving full of confidence into this one.

Rybakina will serve first. Let’s go!

Here we go! Raducanu and Rybakina emerge out onto the Louis Armstrong Court ahead of this third-round match.

Raducanu has played in this 11am start time slot, on Armstrong, in both of her wins so far at the US Open.

It clearly suits her, and Raducanu will hope to continue her strong form against a tough opponent like Rybakina.

The warm-ups are underway.

Emma Raducanu’s match against Elena Rybakina, the ninth seed and current World No 10, is the 10th time the British No 1 has played against a top-10 ranked player this season.

Raducanu has won one of those matches, beating Emma Navarro in the Miami Open, but has lost the other eight, including her recent defeat to World No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in Cincinnati.

Raducanu has brought up how much confidence she has taken from her defeats to Sabalenka as a sign that she is getting closer, but improving her record against top-10 opponents has to be a major target.

She gets another go today against Rybakina.

Raducanu’s 2025 record against top-10 opponents

vs Sabalenka (1), Cincinnati, 6-7 6-3 6-7

vs Anisimova (7), Montreal, 2-6 1-6

vs Sabalenka (1), Wimbledon, 6-7 4-6

vs Zheng (5), Queens, 2-6, 4-6

vs Swiatek (5), French Open, 1-6 2-6

vs Gauff (2), Italian Open, 1-6 2-6

vs Pegula (4), Miami Open, 4-6 7-6 2-6

vs Navarro (8), Miami Open, 7-6 2-6 7-6

vs Swiatek (2), Australian Open, 1-6 0-6

After her win over Janice Tjen on Wednesday, Raducanu was asked about her back after she was seen stretching it out on the baseline between points. It has been a concern for Raducanu in the past but the British No 1 played down any fears that it could be an issue in the US Open.

“I just had a little bit of stiffness in the second set. I think I have been doing a lot of training, and I’m just happy it didn’t affect me too much in the second set and I was still able to compete and to perform well and keep putting out good serves, good returns.

“I think it didn’t really come into the match too much, which I’m happy with.”

Emma Raducanu’s 26 tour-level wins so far in 2025 is already her highest tally in a single season.

“I think all the practice I have been doing, it’s been helping to get me to a certain level, and I want to keep doing it when it suits and when it fits and when it’s the right time,” Raducanu said ahead of the third round.

Elena Rybakina is making her seventh appearance at the US Open and it is the only grand slam event where she has to reach the quarter-finals. The 26-year-old won Wimbledon in 2022, defeating Ons Jabeur in the final, then reached the 2023 Australian Open final.

This year, she reached three semi-finals at the hard-court North American swing, losing to the eventual finalist each time (Leylah Fernandez in Washington; Victoria Mboko in Montreal; and lga Swiatek in Cincinnati).

Her 41 wins on the tour this season are the third-most in the WTA, behind only Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

Cameron Norrie gets another crack at Novak Djokovic as the pair meet for a place in the US Open fourth round later tonight.

Norrie has lost all six matches he has played against the 24-time grand slam champion, including in the Wimbledon semi-finals in 2022 and in last year’s French Open last-16.

Norrie has won just two sets against Djokovic in those meetings, but the 38-year-old has looked vulnerable and out of form so far in New York, struggling past Zachary Svajda in the second round.

Djokovic said he is “frustrated” with how he is playing and if there was ever an opportunity for Norrie to get his first win over the Serbian, it would be now.

Coco Gauff was in tears during and after her second-round US Open match but found a way through after seeking inspiration from Simone Biles in the crowd.

The former champion has been struggling with serving problems and is trying to change her action during the tournament with the help of biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan.

It is clearly putting a real strain on Gauff, who sat with her head in a towel after dropping serve at 4-4 in the first set of her clash with Donna Vekic, the TV cameras picking up the 21-year-old’s tear-stained face.