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Raducanu into Washington quarterfinals; Fritz stops in heat

Posted August 04, 2022 7:00 am

The Associated Press

Emma Raducanu, of Britain, reacts during a match against Camila Osorio, of Colombia, at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) - Reigning U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu found herself completely exhausted, physically and mentally, after playing a pair of tiebreakers across nearly three hours on a hot and humid afternoon at the Citi Open on Thursday.

'œEverything,'ť the second-seeded Raducanu said afterward, 'œwas tired.'ť

Still, she managed to reach her second quarterfinal of the season by edging Camila Osorio 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) with the temperature in the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius), getting done just before a thunderstorm hit the area, suspending play in other matches at the hard-court tournament.

'œIt's flooding pretty bad,'ť Raducanu said during her post-match news conference. 'œYou could probably find a mermaid or something.'ť

She dealt with blisters on her racket-wielding right hand and took a medical timeout late in the second set. Osorio was visited by a trainer earlier.

'œA pretty monumental effort to really get through that,'ť Raducanu said. 'œI'm just really pleased and proud of how I dug in when ... it mattered.'ť

Her only other quarterfinal appearance in a dozen tournaments in 2022 came back in April on red clay at Stuttgart, Germany, where she lost at that stage to No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek. This time, Raducanu will face 60th-ranked Liudmila Samsonova for a berth in the semifinals at the tuneup for the U.S. Open, which begins on Aug. 29.

Samsonova came back to get past Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Thursday.

Raducanu, the British player who won the title at Flushing Meadows as a qualifier a year ago at age 18, kept giving away leads against Osorio, a 20-year-old from Colombia.

Raducanu was up 3-0 at the match's outset, then needed to get through a tiebreaker to pull out the opening set. She served for the match at 5-4 in the second, but got broken there thanks to three double-faults and a forehand into the net.

Still, Raducanu again was better in the tiebreaker, closing out the victory when Osorio sent a service return wide. Raducanu, who has lost in the second round at each of this year's major tournaments, dropped her racket and covered her eyes with both hands.

After the players met for a hug at the net, Raducanu appeared to be too exhausted for a full wave to the crowd on what Yoshihito Nishioka called a 'œcrazy hot day'ť after he beat seventh-seeded Karen Khachanov 7-6 (2), 7-6 (1).

Nishioka now meets Dan Evans in the quarterfinals. Evans advanced when third-seeded Taylor Fritz - the highest American man in the rankings - stopped playing in the third set because of he was fatigued.

In other results, lucky loser Wang Xiyu eliminated Donna Vekic 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the women's bracket, and Mikael Ymer defeated Emil Ruusuvuori 6-3, 6-7 (3), 6-4 in the men's.

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More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Taylor Fritz, of the United States, wraps his head is ice-cold towels between sets during a match against Daniel Evans, of Britain, at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The Associated Press

Emma Raducanu, of Britain, serves during a match against Camila Osorio, of Colombia, at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The Associated Press

Emma Raducanu, of Britain, returns during a match against Camila Osorio, of Colombia, at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The Associated Press

Camila Osorio, of Colombia, reaches to return a shot during a match against Emma Raducanu, of Britain, at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The Associated Press

Daniel Evans, of Britain, reacts during a match against Taylor Fritz, of the United States, at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. Fritz retired from the match during the third set. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The Associated Press

Nick Kyrgios, of Australia, calls out during a match against Reilly Opelka, of the United States, just before a weather delay at the Citi Open tennis tournament in Washington, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2022. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) The Associated Press

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