(Tennis news) Having defeated the likes of Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams, Emma Raducanu’s majestic run at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati has come to an end after the British teenager was defeated 7-5 6-4 to Jessica Pegula. The American tennis player was in control right from the start and secured the first set by clinching two breakpoint opportunities. She then got an early break in the second set which enabled Pegula to wrap up the match in dominant fashion and secure a place in the quarter finals. 

Despite Raducanu being at her best throughout the tournament, displaying her attacking prowess that helped her win the US Open last year, Pegula showcased great technical ability to dismantle her opponent, forcing Raducanu to commit 21 unforced errors. Speaking after the match, Raducanu said “This week was a great step for me. In the past year it's probably like the first tournament or like one of the few tournaments that I have actually started going for my shots more. 

"This week I kind of just was like, 'look, I'm just going to try, I don't care if I make errors, like it's fine, but I'm just going to overhit if anything'. I'm pretty proud of how I did this week, and I think it's a great step to move forward. It is definitely relieving, because I feel like I'm swinging with the same sort of freedom as I probably had, more similar to last year. So it feels really good. I think that I can really take it as a positive week, and I actually feel like I'm heading in a good direction again." 

In the men’s results, Cameron Norrie reached the quarterfinals in Cincinnati after defeating American wildcard Ben Shelton 6-0 6-2 and will now face a tough test against Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz who defeated Marin Cilic 7-6, 6-1. World number 1 Daniil Medvedev defeated Denis Shapovalov 7-5 7-5 while the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Borna Coric are also through to the next round.

Also read: Norrie defeats Murray while Nadal crashes out in Cincinnati