Williams, who final week indicated that she is planning to retire after this month’s US Open, was no match for British teenager Raducanu, who romped to a 6-4, 6-0 win.
Serena Williams returns a shot to Emma Raducanu of Great Britain through the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on 16 August 2022 in Mason, Ohio. Picture: Matthew Stockman/Getty Images/AFP
CINCINATTI – Serena Williams bowed out of the WTA/ATP Cincinnati Masters on the first hurdle on Tuesday, shedding in straight units to US Open champion Emma Raducanu as the top of her glittering profession looms ever nearer.
Williams, who final week indicated that she is planning to retire after this month’s US Open, was no match for British teenager Raducanu, who romped to a 6-4, 6-0 win.
The 40-year-old Williams left the courtroom swiftly after the defeat with out talking to tv reporters and didn’t maintain a press convention.
Raducanu broke Williams at first of each units to say victory in what was her first and certain final assembly with the 23-time Grand Slam singles champion.
“I was nervous from the first point to the last,” Raducanu stated. “Serena is dangerous and can come back from any situation.
“I needed to keep centered. I’m so happy I managed to maintain my composure.”
Williams, winner of titles here in 2014 and 2015, was competing in only her fourth match of 2022 after starting her season at Wimbledon due to injury.
Raducanu announced her intentions from the start with a break to love of Williams and never let up.
The young Briton improved to 14 wins, 17 defeats since winning the Open last September from a qualifying start.
Raducanu meanwhile said she was honoured to be part of the spectacle on Tuesday in what was one of Williams’ final games as a professional.
‘HONOUR SERENA’
“We all must honour Serena and her wonderful profession,” she said. “I’m so grateful for the expertise of taking part in her and for the truth that our careers have crossed.
“All she has achieved is inspirational. It’s a true honour to share the court with her.”
Raducanu by no means let Williams into the match.
The younger Londoner seeded tenth took a 4-1 lead in the opening set and utterly swept the second, advancing on her first match level, an unreturnable serve.
Raducanu dedicated a single unforced error in the opening set in comparison with a dozen for Williams.
Williams’ elder sister Venus took a 7-5, 6-1 loss earlier in the day, shedding to 2016 champion Karolina Pliskova.
In the boys’s draw of the joint occasion, Nick Kyrgios started the final main US Open tune-up with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
The Australian marched via with 29 winners – together with 10 aces – and three breaks of the Spaniard’s serve to achieve the second spherical.
The Twenty eighth-ranked Kyrgios has received all 11 of his first-round matches this season and received his twenty second match since returning to the ATP in June after skipping the clay season.
He now faces good good friend Taylor Fritz after the American crushed Sebastian Baez 6-1, 6-1.
“Physically, I didn’t feel the best, but you have to keep pushing, keep trying,” Kyrgios stated.
“Alejandro’s a hell of a player, he’s got a lot of shots at his disposal. I had to serve well and dictate,” the Montreal quarter-finalist added. “It was tricky conditions out there, the courts are a lot more lively than Montreal, it was harder to control the ball.”
It marked a cheerful return to Cincinnati for Kyrgios, who was fined a file $113,000 throughout a spectacular meltdown on the match in 2019
“I’ve played some amazing tennis here and had some crazy outbursts,” he stated. “It’s a flip of the coin as to which Kyrgios shows up here.”
Elsewhere, Spanish third seed Carlos Alcaraz superior in his match debut, defeating American Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-2.
Italian tenth seed Jannik Sinner celebrated his twenty first birthday by beating Thanasi Kokkinakis 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 7-6 (8/6).