WASHINGTON – Emma Raducanu dominated her first professional game against Naomi Osaka, winning a showdown at the Citi Open in Washington, D.C. between 6-4 and 6-2 on Thursday.
Raducanu, the only qualifier to win a Grand Slam title when she did this in New York in 2021, saved the only two breakout points she faced and managed to break Osaka, a big one.
Osaka suffered from seven double mistakes. She won the U.S. Open and the Australian Open twice.
No. 46 Raducanu will face Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals. Sakkari eliminated No. 2 seed Emma Navarro on Wednesday.
Venus Williams, a seven-time Grand Slam singles champion, returned to the tour at the age of 45, planning to face Magdalena’s Magdalena Frech at night.
The winners of the men’s action included No. 8 seed Daniil Medvedev and No. 14 seed Brandon Nakashima in Thursday’s Hard-Court Championship in Washington.
