Emma Raducanu has crashed out of the US Open after losing in the third round to ex-Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina.
Ninth seed Rybakina beat Raducanu, who won the US Open in 2021, in two sets 6-1 6-2 in Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Raducanu’s only previous match against Rybakina resulted in the joint-most one-sided loss of her career, with the Kazakh player winning 6-0 6-1 in Sydney in 2022.
Rybakina and Raducanu are friends off the court and played doubles together in Washington last month.
At the US Open, Raducanu defeated qualifiers Ena Shibahara and Janice Tjen in the second and third rounds, respectively.
This is the first time the British number one has made it past the first round since lifting the trophy four years ago.
Her US Open performance finishes off a solid Grand Slam season for Raducanu, who reached the third round in every slam, losing out to world number two Iga Swiatek in Australia and Paris and number one Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon.
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The 22-year-old has been struggling with injuries, most notably in her back, since her 2021 victory at the US Open.
Raducanu will now be looking to defend her ranking points during the rest of the season.
If she can push her ranking back towards the top 20, she can avoid match-ups against other seeded players like Rybakina, Swiatek and Sabalenka early on in the biggest tournaments.
