Emma Raducanu makes her point as screaming Aryna Sabalenka fumes over warning
Emma Raducanu has been criticised for accepting wildcards into major WTA Tour events despite her lowly ranking, yet the 21-year-old silenced her vocal critics with an impressive display against world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
The 2021 US Open champion went down fighting as she was beaten in straight sets by world recently re-crowned Australian Open champion Sabalenka, but the performance served up by the world No 250 confirmed she is competitive against the very best in women’s tennis.
Raducanu pushed the Belarusian to the limit, battling back from a break down to level at 5-5 in the second set before ultimately falling to a 6-3 7-5 defeat.
Despite her loss, the 21-year-old Briton will take confidence from the way she consistently pressured her opponent before Sabalenka finally claimed victory on her fourth match point.
Raducanu had booked her third-round berth after winning back-to-back matches for the first time since her run to the last 16 of the same tournament last year, with question marks over her decision to play at Indian Wells banished by her display against Sabalenka.
Raducanu is clearly still having some issues with her serve, with her constant habit of catching the ball after her throw-up evidence that she is still working on that element of her game with coach Nick Cavaday.
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Yet with Sabalenka screaming with increased volume as the match progressed, Raducanu continued to push the Belarusian back onto her heels with some impressive ground shots.
Sabalenka’s firepower from the back of the court is too much for most of her rivals, but Raducanu appeared to be comfortable using the pace coming at her as she put pressure on her opponent in a tight second set.
With the errors flowing from Sabalenka, Raducanu had a break point that could have given her a chance to serve for the set.
Yet Sabalenka found a way to get over the winning line by relying on the power-packed serve that dug her out of more than a few challenging moments.
“It was a tough match, she played unbelievable tennis and I am super happy with the level today,” said Sabalenka.
“You guys brought the best atmosphere, thank you so much for the support.
“I was just staying with myself and controlling myself and doing everything I can to win this match. That was the key for today’s match.
“She’s an incredible player and she played great tennis today, even though she didn’t play many matches in the past couple of months.
“But still, I know that the level is there, and she can play some great tennis. But on those key moments, I was focusing on myself and things that I have to do on court to be in this match, and I think it’s worked well.”
Sabalenka confronted the chair umpire after she won the final point by wagging her finger in the direction of the official who had given her a warning in the second set.
While her relentless screaming every time she struck the ball was a reason to give her a warning, it appeared she was sanctioned by the chair umpire for swearing on court.
Sabalenka’s Indian Wells adventure will continue into the last 16 and Raducanu’s next assignment will be at next week’s Miami Open.
She will face a dip in her WTA ranking after she reached the fourth round and fell in the third round this year.
Yet if she can push the world No 2 this closely at what is still an early phase of her comeback, Raducanu should have the belief that she should take advantage of the wild card opportunities coming her way in the next few months.
If she can play at this level consistently, a return to the top 100 of the WTA rankings should be within her reach over the next few months as she has very few ranking points to defend for the rest of 2024.
