Article Author:
Reuters
Great Britain's Emma Radukhanu says Tuesday's victory over 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams at the Cincinnati Open gave her confidence ahead of her US Open title defense.
Radukhanu, a teenager who has not won a tournament since winning last year's title at Flushing Meadows as a 150th-place qualifier, put on a dominant display against Williams, They narrowly closed out a 6-4 6-0 victory. over an hour.
American Her Williams announced her retirement last week before an early exit from the Canadian Open, saying she was "moving away from tennis."
Radukanu, 19, described her attraction to Williams as her "gift."
"A chance to play her might be one of her last chances for me to play her," she said. "You have to cherish the moment. This memory will stay with you for the rest of your career."
Raducanu said his opponents were always of a high standard at this level, but he made sure Williams didn't lose. It took something special to beat it.
"She's obviously proud and confident of herself playing Selena and being able to win," she told reporters.
"Each of these wins builds some kind of confidence, no matter what level you're playing. Every win is important. But of course, this is even more so, because you
"But I'm not going to go too high or too low right now."
, she will face another Grand Slam winner, Belarusian Victoria Azarenka. The Briton said it was her one more chance to learn from a "great champion".
"I remember recently when she was playing at the US Open and she made it to the final in 2020. I was studying for her exams," he said. she added.
"I hadn't played tennis in months, but I dreamed of one day playing for Ashe. One day I would reach that level and watch these great players.
"Obviously last year I had a lot of opportunities to interact with these great players. Playing with them." Every time I did, I learned from them too and it helped that they were doing really well in their careers.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair, Bangalore, by Peter Rutherford Edit)
