Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez reach the semifinals in Washington
On a muggy day with the temperature topping 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius), Raducanu took a medical timeout while reeling off the last five games of the match after trailing 5-2 in the second set.
'I would like to say I'm pretty good in the heat, for the most part, but I was really struggling today,' said Raducanu, who was 18 when she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles trophy. 'It was one of the toughest matches, conditions-wise, I have ever played in. ... Those points in the second set, I was getting a bit wobbly. I'm just happy I could close it out, and it was two sets.'
Also reaching the semifinals at the hard-court tournament in Washington was Leylah Fernandez,
the runner-up to Raducanu at Flushing Meadows
four years ago. Fernandez moved on with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory over qualifier Taylor Townsend on Thursday.
Next for Fernandez is a matchup against 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, the highest remaining seed in the field at No. 3, or No. 5 Magdanela Frech, the player who beat
Venus Williams
on Thursday night.
Raducanu's semifinal opponent Saturday will be No. 4 Clara Tauson or Anna Kalinskaya.
The first man to reach the semifinals was Corentin Moutet, a 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over
2021 U.S. Open champion Daniil Medvedev
. The match was delayed for about an hour late in the third set because of lightning in the area.
___
AP tennis:
https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
29 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Piastri beats Norris to win Formula 1's rain-delayed Belgian Grand Prix
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, Belgium (AP) — Oscar Piastri had to wait, and wait some more. Then he made his move. Piastri beat his McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris to win Formula 1's Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday after heavy rain delayed the start. Piastri powered past his teammate and title rival Norris on the first racing lap after the safety car pulled into the pits on lap four, following a delay to the start of more than an hour. 'I knew I was going to try and lift (off the accelerator) a little bit less than Lando did and try to make it stick,' said Piastri, admitting his car felt 'lively' as he took on the extra risk through the steeply uphill Eau Rouge corner. Norris suggested over the radio he was having issues with the battery providing his electric power. McLaren chief executive Zak Brown told broadcaster Sky Sports that there was 'a small battery issue which we've got to look at.' Norris reduced Piastri's lead toward the end of the race but the Australian held on with worn tires and Norris couldn't get close enough to challenge. Charles Leclerc was third for Ferrari after he kept Red Bull's Max Verstappen behind him all race. Title battle Piastri extended his championship lead over Norris from nine points to 16 and denied his British teammate a third Grand Prix win in a row. It was the second straight day that Piastri held off Norris after taking second place ahead of his teammate in Saturday's sprint, won by Max Verstappen. Except for the weather, Piastri's overtake of Norris was almost a copy of Verstappen's opening-lap pass on the Australian from second on the grid in the sprint. Piastri had been disappointed to qualify second for the Grand Prix behind Norris, but it 'turns out starting second at Spa is not so bad after all,' he said. Piastri took his sixth win of the season and is the first McLaren driver to win the Belgian Grand Prix since Jenson Button in 2012. Hamilton's surge to seventh Unlike the thrilling and chaotic last race in Britain, there was no significant rain after the race finally got underway and Sunday's race was largely a procession after a few early attacks on the still-wet track. Most key contenders switched to dry tires at roughly the same time and didn't have to stop again. In Red Bull's first Grand Prix since the firing of Christian Horner as team principal, Verstappen failed with an attempt to get past Leclerc at the start and spent the rest of the race behind the Ferrari driver on his way to fourth. George Russell was fifth for Mercedes after an early pass on Alex Albon, who finished sixth for Williams after holding off Ferrari's Lewis Hamilton, who was seventh. The seven-time champion started 18th and Hamilton carved his way through the field on the wet track early on but then lost momentum. Liam Lawson was eighth for Racing Bulls, with Sauber's Gabriel Bortoleto ninth and Pierre Gasly 10th for Alpine. ___ AP auto racing:
Associated Press
32 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Bubba Wallace becomes first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis' oval
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bubba Wallace climbed out of the No. 23 car Sunday, pumped his fists, found his family and savored every precious moment of a historic Brickyard 400 victory. He deserved every minute of it. The 31-year-old Wallace overcame a tenuous 18-minute rain delay, two tantalizing overtimes, fears about running out of fuel late and the hard-charging defending race champ, Kyle Larson, on back-to-back restarts to become the first Black driver to win a major race on Indianapolis Motor Speedway's 2.5-mile oval. No Black driver has won the Indianapolis 500, and Formula 1 raced on the track's road course. 'This one's really cool,' Wallace said. 'Coming off Turn 4, I knew I was going to get there — unless we ran out of gas. I was surprised I wasn't crying like a little baby.' His third career NASCAR Cup victory delivered Wallace's first victory in the series' four crown jewel events, the others being the Daytona 500, Coca-Cola 600 and Southern 500. It also snapped a 100-race winless streak that dated to 2022 at Kansas and locked up a playoff spot. His only other win came at Talladega in 2021. The final gap was 0.222 seconds, but that was no measure of the consternation he faced. Larson cut a 5.057-second deficit with 14 laps to go to about three seconds with six laps left as the yellow flag came out for the rain. The cars then rolled to a stop on pit lane with four laps remaining, forcing Wallace to think and rethink his restart strategy. 'The whole time I'm thinking are we going? Are we not?' he said. 'I will say I leaned more towards 'I know we're going to go back racing. Be ready. Don't get complacent here.' Wallace made sure of it. He beat Larson through the second turn on the first restart only to have a crash behind him force a second overtime, forcing his crew to recalculate whether they had enough fuel to finish the race or whether he needed to surrender the lead and refuel. In Wallace's mind, there was no choice. 'The first thing that went through my mind was, 'Here we go again,'' he said. 'But then I said, `I want to win this straight up. I want to go back racing.' Here we are.' He beat Larson off the restart again and pulled away, preventing Larson from becoming the race's fourth back-to-back winner. The victory also alleviated the frustration Wallace felt Saturday when he spent most of the qualifying session on the provisional pole only to see Chase Briscoe claim the No. 1 starting spot with one of the last runs in the session. On Sunday, he made sure there was no repeat, providing an added boost to the 23XI Racing team co-owned by basketball Hall of Famer Michael Jordan and last week's race winner, Denny Hamlin, as it continues to battle NASCAR in court over its charter status. 'Those last 20 laps there were ups and downs and I was telling myself 'You won't be able to do it,'' Wallace said. 'Once I'd seen it was Larson, I knew he won here last year and he's arguably the best in the field. So to beat the best, we had to be the best today.' The other big race — the In-Season Challenge — went to Ty Gibbs, who had a better car than Ty Dillon in qualifying and on race day. Gibbs finished 21st o win the inaugural March Madness-like single-elimination tournament and collect the $1 million prize. Dillon, a surprise championship round entrant after making the field as the 32nd and final driver, finished 28th. 'They brought me money guns and they jammed so I decided to take all the money and throwing it to the fans and they were all wrestling and fighting over it,' said Gibbs, who also received a title belt and a ring. 'But it's super cool. It's a cool opportunity.' Tire troubles At different points, Austin Cindric and three-time Cup champion Joey Logano appeared to be in control of the race, but tire problems took them out of contention. Eric Jones also was knocked out of the race when his right front tire came off between Turns 3 and 4, sending him hard into the outside wall on Lap 91. They weren't the only drivers who made early exits. Ross Chastain was the first out after just 18 laps when a tap from Michael McDowell sent Chastain's car spinning into the third turn wall and caused heavy damage. The others who were out before Lap 100 were Austin Dillon, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Cody Ware. Weathering the storm Series officials were concerned enough about the threat of rain that they moved up the start time by 10 minutes. Fifteen minutes probably would have eliminated the rain delay. But the threat of rain impacted the race long before the delay. Early in the second stage, some teams informed drivers rain was expected near the midway point and it seemed to increase the aggressiveness earlier in the race than expected. Monster advice Cookie Monster made it to the track Sunday, too. The beloved Sesame Street character, who served as the Brickyard's grand marshal, attended driver introductions and took a handful of questions before the race and even offered some advice to the drivers. 'Don't stop and ask for directions,' the furry blue character said. Up next Cup drivers will continue their brief Midwestern tour next Sunday when they race at Iowa. ___ AP auto racing:
NBC Sports
41 minutes ago
- NBC Sports
Naomi Osaka announces she is no longer working with coach Patrick Mouratoglou
WASHINGTON — Naomi Osaka and coach Patrick Mouratoglou are done working together after less than a year, the four-time Grand Slam champion announced on social media. 'Merci Patrick,' Osaka began her post, with a photo of her hitting a practice serve while he stands nearby. 'It was such a great experience learning from you. Wishing you nothing but the best. You are one of the coolest people I've ever met and I'm sure I'll see you around.' The news comes after Osaka lost her second match at the D.C. Open and just before she begins competing in Toronto. The U.S. Open, the year's last major tournament and an event Osaka won twice, begins in New York on Aug. 24. Osaka hired Mouratoglou — who was the longtime coach of Serena Williams — when she fired Wim Fissette shortly after her second-round exit at last year's U.S. Open. Osaka, a former No. 1, is currently ranked 51st and has a 21-11 record this season. She hasn't been past the third round at a Grand Slam tournament since winning the 2021 Australian Open.
