Retiring Serena Williams to face US Open champion Emma Raducanu in Cincinnati Masters opener

The first-round draw for the Cincinnati Masters has thrown up a box office clash between reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu and retiring legend Serena Williams. Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam winner, said in an interview earlier this week that she was «evolving away from tennis», with the upcoming US Open looking likely to be her final tournament appearance. Ad The 40-year-old is the most successful tennis player in the Open Era and has spent 319 weeks as the world No.

1. WTA Toronto'I'm terrible at goodbyes' — Tearful Williams says farewell to Toronto after loss to Bencic11/08/2022 AT 09:14 She will face Great Britain’s teenage star Raducanu, 19 years her junior, for the first time at the Masters 1000 event in Cincinnati, the last stop before the final Grand Slam of the season at Flushing Meadows. Williams and Raducanu are scheduled to face off on Monday night, after both suffered early exits at the Toronto Open this week.

The American earned her first win of the season in Canada, beating Spain’s Nuris Parrizas Diaz 6-3 6-4, but went out in straight sets to Belinda Bencic of Switzerland in the second round. «As I said in the article, I'm terrible at goodbyes. But, goodbye Toronto,” a tearful Williams said after the defeat.