Emma Raducanu and Aryna Sabalenka have both spoken out ahead of the blockbuster Cincinnati Open clash on Monday.<\/p>\n
World No 39 Raducanu<\/a> and world No 1 Sabalenka<\/a> will do battle at the WTA 1000 event in third-round action this week, facing on court for the third time.<\/p>\n Three-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka has prevailed in both their previous meetings, defeating Raducanu in Indian Wells in 2024, before battling past the Brit at Wimbledon just last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n The competitive nature of their third-round Wimbledon clash in July came as a surprise to most, with many impressed by just how well Raducanu had played.<\/p>\n Despite defeat, the 22-year-old took heart from her performance and, speaking to Tennis Channel<\/em> this week, reflected on what she described as one of her \u201cfavourite\u201d matches.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was incredible,\u201d said Raducanu.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was my favourite match to be a part of in terms of atmosphere, it was electric, I\u2019ve never felt anything like it.<\/p>\n Iga Swiatek hits 3 staggering milestones after successful start to Cincinnati Open<\/a><\/p>\n Emma Raducanu\u2019s new chapter as she moves away from \u2018relaxed\u2019 coaching style<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWith the roof closed, especially, everything was amplified, and the home support was incredible. And I had chances in that match, which was for me a great thing, because I took a lot of confidence; I was on the right track.<\/p>\n \u201cI think obviously grass is a different surface to here, it plays completely different, but to push the world No 1 to such great lengths, it did give me a lot of confidence.<\/p>\n \u201cJust the atmosphere, I think overall, is something I will never forget, and that\u2019s the reason I play tennis, to play in stadiums like that and crowds like that and just to be part of matches that are so competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n World No 1 Sabalenka again enters this match as the favourite, with the 27-year-old looking to successfully defend the Cincinnati Open title she won twelve months ago.<\/p>\n Despite not yet winning a Grand Slam title in 2025, the Belarusian has been the form player of the season, sitting No 1 in the WTA Race to Riyadh and with the joint-most titles won (three) and most finals reached (seven) in 2025.<\/p>\n Sabalenka has been handed a tough projected draw in Cincinnati, though she started her campaign with a confident 7-5, 6-1 triumph over another Grand Slam champion, Marketa Vondrousova.<\/p>\n And the three-time major winner believes that victory over Vondrousova, who Raducanu previously defeated at SW19 this summer<\/a>, will prove crucial preparation for her clash against the 2021 US Open champion.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a great battle at Wimbledon,\u201d commented Sabalenka, also speaking on Tennis Channel<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cShe [Raducanu] is an amazing player, and she has been playing really well lately. I am super excited to face her on hard courts.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t remember our match at Indian Wells, but I think now she is playing much better. It\u2019s going to be a challenge, and I love to accept tough challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I am super excited to face her. I will definitely have to work really hard for every point. But Marketa tested me really well [on Saturday], so I am ready to fight for each point.\u201d<\/p>\n The match is particularly crucial for Raducanu, who will likely need to stun the world No 1 to boost her chances of sealing a seeding for the US Open<\/a>, which starts in two weeks.<\/p>\n The 22-year-old is currently the world No 39, putting her five places off the top-32 seeding places once the withdrawals of world No 7 Zheng Qinwen and world No 12 Paula Badosa are factored in.<\/p>\n With Sabalenka over 4,000 points ahead of world No 2 Coco Gauff, she is guaranteed to remain the top seed at the final Grand Slam of 2025 regardless of her Cincinnati result.<\/p>\n Read Next<\/strong>: Cincinnati Open women\u2019s singles predictions: Swiatek, Sabalenka, Gauff search for hard-court form<\/a><\/p>\n The post What Emma Raducanu and Aryna Sabalenka said ahead of blockbuster Cincinnati Open clash<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Emma Raducanu and Aryna Sabalenka have both spoken out ahead of the blockbuster Cincinnati Open clash on Monday. World No 39 Raducanu and world No 1 Sabalenka will do battle at the WTA 1000 event in third-round action this week, facing on court for the third time. Three-time Grand Slam champion Sabalenka has prevailed in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Tennis News<\/h2>\n