Raducanu wins marathon to reach Washington quarter-finals

WASHINGTON: Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu of Britain advanced to the quarter-finals of the ATP and WTA Washington Open, refusing to wilt Thursday after a marathon match in sweltering heat.

The English 19-year-old outlasted Colombia’s Camila Osorio 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) after two hours and 50 minutes for a gritty victory in the WTA’s longest two-set main draw match of the year. “It has got to be one of the most physical matches I’ve ever played,” Raducanu said. “It was a pretty monumental effort to really get through that. “I’m just really pleased and proud of how I dug in when it really mattered. It just gives you a lot of confidence coming through a match like that. “Physically, I’m pretty pleased with how I held up in that match. Looking forward to going again.” Raducanu advanced to a Friday quarter-final against Liudmila Samsonova, who rallied past Australian Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 at the US Open tuneup. It will be only Raducanu’s third quarter-final since her amazing Grand Slam title run last year at New York, having reached the last eight at Cluj-Napoca last October and Stuttgart in April. She has yet to reach a semifinal since taking the trophy last September at Flushing Meadows. “Sometimes in your career you feel like everything is automatic, you can go for whatever shot you want and it’s going to land,” Raducanu said. “Those weeks don’t come by very often. I’ve just accepted I’m not going to feel like that every week.” Osorio trailed Raducanu 3-0 but broke back in a 13-minute seventh game and broke again to lead 5-4, then had three double faults serving for the first set, one on set point, and Raducanu broke back. In the first tie-breaker, Osorio won five of six points, the last when Raducanu