Emma Raducanu, the crying baby, her vocal coach Francisco Roig and breaking the rules
Emma Raducanu had an eventful match against Aryna Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open as the clash was interrupted by a crying baby, she was told off by the chair umpire and let’s not forget new coach Francisco Roig also made plenty of noise.
The British No 1 took on top seed and defending champion Sabalenka in the third round and they delivered an enthralling third-round contest that went to three sets and lasted three hours and 10 minutes.
And a lot happened during those 190 minutes at the WTA 1000 event in Ohio.
Raducanu had kicked off the Cincinnati Open with a new face in her player’s box as Roig – the former coach of tennis great Rafael Nadal – made his debut as her mentor at the WTA 1000 event and fans got the full “Roig experience” during the Sabalenka clash.
The Spaniard was vocal throughout the encounter as he gave the 22-year-old plenty of encouragement from the sidelines, but they got into trouble with the chair umpire during the first set as Raducanu broke the rules.
After saving two break points to go 5-4 up, Raducanu walked to her coach and while the Spaniard also moved closer to the court to give some instructions.
Sky Sports commentator Adam Fielder stated: “She’s even going over for some advice before heading to her chair. Huge amount of dialogue at the moment, and the umpire has just called her away, can’t do that.”
After Raducanu returned to her bench, the chair umpire had a word with her as the 2021 US Open winner was told: “Emma, you cannot actively approach him and he cannot leave his position. You know that. You cannot have a conversation.”
The Brit replied: “I can’t hear anything because the music is really loud.
The official then said: “Then he needs to speak louder but you cannot actively approach him, he cannot leave the position, he needs to stay where he is and you cannot actively go towards him. You cannot actively go at the end of a game especially.”
The chair umpire did offer to send a referee to Roig to explain the rules, but Raducanu decided it was not necessary and she would inform the Spaniard when she was on his side of the court again.
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Roig was also heard saying, “You’re better than her” at one point during an intense game midway during the third set. In a 23-minute game on Raducanu’s serve, there were 13 deuces before she finally won the game.
There was also a distraction in the crowd as a baby was crying non-stop and Raducanu told the chair umpire: “It’s been, like, 10 minutes.”
The official then asked: “It’s a child. Do you want me to kick the child out of the stadium?”
The conversation was heard by several spectators and some of them shouted “Yes!” to the question while Roig urged her several times to take her time, stay calm and breath.
Raducanu eventually held her serve, but went on to lose in the third-set tie-breaker as Sabalenka booked her place in the fourth round.
