Emma Raducanu called for a crying child to be ejected from the stadium as she came within inches of the biggest win since her 2021 US Open triumph, losing narrowly to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.
Sabalenka triumphed 7-6 (6-2), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5) at the Cincinnati Open but there was a flashpoint while Raducanu was serving at a crucial stage in the deciding set.
Cries from a child in the stands took her focus away, causing her to stop the service action and tell the umpire: ‘It’s been, like, 10 minutes.
The official replied: ‘It’s a child. Do you want me to kick the child out of the stadium?
Raducanu shrugged but some fans shouted up ‘yes’ on her behalf before the Brit indicated her agreement.
‘I can call in, but we need to continue for the moment,’ the umpire explained during a break in play.
Raducanu went on to hold serve for 4-4 but ended up narrowly losing the set and therefore the match.
The blistering midday sun on quick hard-court replaced south west London’s twilight and tricksy grass, and Raducanu’s player box stuffed with her friends and mentors was whittled down to the singular figure of new coach Francisco Roig.
But Roig did more than enough to compensate, the Spaniard talking to his new charge after almost every point and offering up both encouragement and sharp, specific tactical instruction.
Raducanu needed it all against the world No 1, whose fearsome power she continues to struggle with.
After bolting out of the starting gates with an opening break of Sabalenka’s serve and a confident hold, the Belarusian won the next four games with minimum fuss.
‘You have to be brave and calm’, Roig stressed after Raducanu managed tighten up her shaky service game and stop the rot at 4-3. ‘Vamos. Believe’.
Raducanu seemed to draw heavily from Roig’s presence, coolly breaking Sabalenka’s serve and taking the lead at 6-5.
Initially unsettled by Raducanu’s patience on the other side of the net, the defending champion knuckled down to bring up the tiebreak. Her ferocious record in format – 17 won of her last 18 played – shows no sign of letting up.
But rather than wilt, Raducanu kept cool in the 31-degree heat, tracking Sabalenka to 3-3 before pouncing on her increasingly frequent errors. As the match ticked towards the hour-and-a-half mark, she snatched the first break of the set, and hanging tough, the Briton claimed the second set with an ace that defending champion Sabalenka could scarcely believe had gone in.
Raducanu hadn’t taken a set off the US Open champion in their two previous meetings, and with both players finding themselves in unfamiliar circumstances, Sabalenka started the more uneasily.
But as both players held, it was the higher-ranked star who gradually clawed back the momentum, although not without a fight. Raducanu on serve took her time as the pair exchanged gritty deuces in the eighth game, neither capable of either giving an inch, or delivering the hammer blow, until on the 13th deuce and after 22 minutes, the world No 39 held to the roars of a rapturous crowd.
Sabalenka had won break-point advantage four times in that game, but the three-time Grand Slam champion showed no loss of nerve, even as Raducanu forced another tiebreak.
‘If you take this set, the match is yours,’ Roig had said at 2-1 in the second set, as Raducanu faltered to complete an early hold.
She saw it out, and his prophecy did not come true. But more than any empty words, this match has given the tennis world reason to believe.
