Emma Raducanu saved a match point against Paula Badosa at the 2024 Citi Open in Washington, but that was not enough to put together a comeback.
While others have been battling it out at the 2024 Paris Olympics under five rings, the former World No. 2 on the WTA Tour, Badosa, and the 2021 US Open champion, Raducanu, made their way to Washington to compete at the WTA 500 event.
Both opted to skip the Olympic Games because of injury concerns, and the decision proved to be a good one for both, as they reached the quarter-finals of the tournament, which meant they were only a couple of matches from contesting for the title.
Despite both having success before, they have never met in a competitive match, with this being their first clash, and both entered it on a good run, having won two consecutive matches in D.C.
Badosa completely missed the start of the match, losing eight points in a row, and that also meant a crucial break for her opponent in the opening set of this quarter-final match.
It was crucial for multiple reasons. It gave the Brit confidence, and it was also the only break of the set. Raducanu had two more break points, but she couldn't use any of those, but she didn't even need to, winning the first set 6-4.
She was only one set away from making the semi-final, but the Spanish player showed her really high level in the second set. She couldn't use her first break point in the fourth game of the match, but after both players held their service games almost flawlessly, Badosa's chance came.
Raducanu felt the pressure in the 12th game of the match, down 5-6, and that transferred into a break point chance for her opponent. The Spanish player couldn't use that, but she was offered two more chances, and using her third break point of the 12th game, and fourth of the second set, Badosa leveled the score of the match, winning the second set 7-5.
The decider offered a dramatic finish that fans in Washington were certainly looking for. First, Raducanu went up by a break, but she immediately had to save a break point in the following game.
The former US Open winner succeeded, and soon enough, her lead increased to 3-1. The British player then led 3-2 and 40-15 on her serve, but she lost that advantage, as her opponent leveled the score at 3-all.
Raducanu then had three consecutive break points at 40-love, but she couldn't use any of her chances, which started a run when Badosa won ten of the following eleven rallies, going up 5-3 and 15-love.
The Spaniard then had a match point on her serve in the ninth game of the third set, but Raducanu saved it with her own run of points, winning five in a row to make it 4-5 and 30-love.
Still, one last successful run from Badosa ended the Brit's chances and hopes of turning the match around, as former World No. 2 won a nearly three-hour battle 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
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