Four years ago, Emma Raducanu shocked the tennis world when she won the U.S. Open as an 18-year-old qualifier.
But nearly as staggering had been Raducanu’s lack of success at Flushing Meadows since then.
The British star entered the weekend seeking her first win in a U.S. Open match since that 2021 championship, having suffered first-round exits in 2022 and 2024 while missing the 2023 tournament due to injury.
The drought came to an end Sunday, as Raducanu cruised past Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium for a tidy first-round victory.
“It has been on my mind,” Raducanu, 22, said afterward. “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.”
Raducanu eliminated Shibahara, a Japanese qualifier, in only 62 minutes on the first day of the Open. She went up 5-0 in the first set and 4-0 in the second, facing little resistance on a cool morning in Queens.
She totaled only six unforced errors.
The match began at 11 a.m., making it the first to take place at Louis Armstrong in this year’s tournament.
“I was nervous this morning after practice,” Raducanu said. “There’s not much time, playing first on. You’re kind of rushing to do things. I was nervous in practice. Afterwards, after I came out of the shower, I felt like I kind of just got into the zone, got my match kit on, and that, for me, is a shift of, ‘OK, you’re going to get ready. Lock in now.’
“Then I relaxed,” she said. “Going onto Armstrong, I think getting that first game was really important.”
With her Open victory in 2021, Raducanu became the first qualifier ever to win one of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
But that remains her only Grand Slam title.
Raducanu lost to Alizé Cornet at the 2022 Open and to Sofia Kenin, an American, last year. Surgeries on both wrists and an ankle prevented Raducanu from competing at the event in 2023.
Once the world’s 10th-ranked player, Raducanu entered this year’s Open as No. 36.
Still, Raducanu last week described the U.S. Open as a “happy place” and said she was in a “much better place” going into this year’s edition of it. Earlier this month, Raducana hired coach Francisco Roig, who worked with Rafael Nadal from 2005-22.
“I really liked playing on Armstrong today. The crowd was great,” Raducanu said after Sunday’s win.
“I think New York is always different. It’s a bit challenging in terms of there is always so much going on, whether you’re in the city, at the hotel, or on the way to the courts. There is traffic, it takes an hour, but it’s something that we all kind of go through. I personally love the buzz. I love how intimate the crowd gets.”
Raducanu is set to face Janice Tjen of Indonesia on Wednesday in the second round. Tjen, 23, defeated 24th-seeded Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 on Sunday in her first-ever U.S. Open match.
“I felt like I had most things kind of under control on my side of the court,” Raducana said. “I just want to stay in my zone and keep going with what I’m doing.”
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