Four years after her three life-changing weeks in New York, Emma Raducanu overcame a significant mental hurdle as she secured her first victory at the US Open since her 2021 title run in impressive fashion, dismantling the qualifier Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2 to finally return to the second round.
After painful first-round defeats by Alizé Cornet and Sofia Kenin, plus a withdrawal in 2023 during an eight-month injury layoff, Raducanu showed her growth and newfound self-assurance by putting together a solid, clean performance against an inferior opponent.
“It has been on my mind,” Raducanu said of her inability to win a match in New York. “It’s been four years, and it’s a very special tournament for me. I did feel different coming into it this year. I felt like I was doing the right things day to day, but still, it’s in the back of your head. So I’m just very pleased to have overcome that.”
With the victory, the British No 1 is now 20-4 against lower-ranked players over the past year and her ability to consistently win favourable match-ups has been a key part of her steady rise up the rankings. She will next face the qualifier Janice Tjen, who toppled the 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.
It also signified a confidence-building first grand slam victory alongside her new Spanish coach, Francisco Roig, who again offered his charge a constant stream of positive reinforcement from a corner of Louis Armstrong Stadium. Roig was joined in Raducanu’s player box by Jerome Poupel, a chiropractor who has been helping Raducanu with her continued back injury.
“He’s been helping me for the last year, I would say. I’ve had back problems for the last year, so he’s just really helped with that,” Raducanu said.
“As I’ve been playing more tennis and training more, it’s just important for me to stay on top of that. It’s cool, you know, he’s worked in F1, he’s worked with horses, so it’s very different. But I’m just enjoying having him around. He’s a great, calm but eccentric kind of character.”
During their time working together, Poupel has offered Raducanu unique insights on her character. “He said that my character is similar to a horse,” she said. “Can be quite stubborn, dig their heels in. He’s got experience. Hopefully he can read me. And also they kind of wear their emotion on their sleeve.
“If they’re not feeling like they want to do something they probably won’t do it. I’m just happy to have him around. He’s got so much different, diverse experience that it’s great to have that insight.”
This was a good first-round draw for Raducanu, but Shibahara is an interesting figure in her own right. An American-born Japanese player, the 27-year-old is a former top four doubles player and the 2022 French Open mixed doubles champion. Shibahara only opted to prioritise singles last year and she has performed admirably, rising from outside the top 500 to her current ranking of No 128. However, she has never defeated a top-50 opponent and this contest marked just the second grand slam main draw appearance of her career.
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From the beginning, Raducanu set the tone with a calming hold to love. As she rolled through the match, she found a nice balance between imposing herself with her early ball striking and remaining solid against an erratic opponent who finished the match with 36 unforced errors. While Raducanu once spent a significant amount of time scouting opponents, she puts part of her success down to finding solutions within herself.
“I like watching the opponents,” Raducanu said. “I think I’m probably watching less now. I just have a good awareness of the opponent, what they like to do, and a lot more centred around me. I think I’m trusting myself, trusting my own abilities a lot more and I know what I need to do on the court as well, not necessarily searching so much to the box, asking for what to do, only if I feel like I really need it. I think that’s helped me keep my head in the match, rather than looking up, getting distracted, and kind of searching for something.”
Before the tournament, Raducanu spoke in depth about how the US Open has generated conflicting emotions for her over the years. Her first‑round defeat against Kenin last year was a particularly low point, and Raducanu broke down in tears during her post-match press conference.
Things are clearly different now. This summer Raducanu has become a more match tough and confident player than at any point in the past four years. Now she will try to turn that conviction and contentment into another positive run in New York.
