Brits Raducanu & Norrie cause upsets in Washington

Emma Raducanu and Cameron Norrie both won the Washington Open on Tuesday, impressively.

In the opening round, Raducanu defeated Marta Kostyuk, the world number 27 and seventh seed, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4.

Naomi Osaka, who has four Grand Slam titles, will face her next, 6-2 7-5, against Yulia Putintseva.

In the second round, Norrie had to work hard to defeat second-seeded, world number seven Lorenzo Musetti, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, for his first victory over a top-10 player in two and a half years.

Despite sacrificing a 4-0 lead in the tie-break, Raducanu, the British number three, took the opening set after a grueling 71 minutes.

In the second set, Kostyuk, who had lost five singles matches in a row since May, rallied to break and draw level at 4-4.

The Ukrainian double faulted Raducanu for giving her two match points, which the Briton took on her second chance, after forcing Kostyuk to serve in order to remain in the match.

The 2021 US Open champion described it as an “extremely good win.”

She continued, “I’m happy with how I fought through the first set and stayed strong when I needed to,” she continued.

In the end, Norrie won the match with just three winners, two of whom came from aces, but won the other two to force a decision.

In the fifth game of the final set, he broke Musetti, who had a first-round bye, in the sixth game to give him a 4-2 lead.

In the final game, the Italian saved two match points, including one on a Norrie double fault, before sending a backhand beyond the baseline, giving the Briton victory in two hours and seven minutes.

Norrie admitted that he was playing tennis once more and that he had “let go of the expectations” as a result.