British tennis star Emma Raducanu struggled to keep her cool when a baby wouldn’t stop wailing during her Monday match against world number one Aryna Sabalenka.
Raducanu, 22, faced off against Sabalenka, 27, at the Cincinnati Open, where she ended up getting knocked out after a narrow defeat in a third-set tiebreaker.
During the final set, just as the one-time Grand Slam champion prepared to serve, a crying infant in the stands broke her concentration.
Walking away from the baseline, Raducanu vocalized her annoyance, telling the chair umpire: “It’s been like 10 minutes.”
“It’s a child,” the umpire responded incredulously. “Do you want me to send the child out of the stadium?”
Raducanu gave a shrug as members of the crowd yelled: “Yes!” Then, smiling, she pointed toward them in acknowledgment.
“I can call in,” the umpire conceded, “but we need to continue for the moment.” Loud applause and cheers erupted throughout the stadium.
Tennis is one of the few sports in which spectators are expected to remain quiet during points to allow players complete concentration.
Monday’s match marked Raducanu and Belarusian star Sabalenka’s second meeting of the year after the latter edged to victory in their third-round encounter at Wimbledon last month.
The long and tireless match, which lasted more than three hours, saw the British number one make a quick start, earning her first break point in the second game of the opening set. Sabalenka responded with a break of her own and soon leveled the score, before going on to clinch the win 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(5).
Raducanu’s path to the third round of the competition saw her beat Serbian player Olga Danilovic in the previous match, her first since Rafael Nadal’s former coach Francis Roig joined her team.
Sabalenka will move on to Round of 16 tomorrow, where she will meet Jessica Bouzas Maneiro after the Spaniard beat Taylor Townsend earlier Monday.
Raducanu is next scheduled to play in the 2025 U.S. Open. She will participate in the main draw of the women’s singles. Her return to the final major championship of the tour later this month comes a year after she suffered a brutal first-round loss to Sofia Kenin in 2024.
Her appearance at the time followed a four-week absence from competition as she instead chose to focus on training blocks.
“I went home and came back and it was a really difficult time in New York,” she recently told The Guardian. “Since I won the tournament, it’s not been easy for me there. But this year I feel different, I’m a lot calmer behind the court.”
At just 18, Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam singles title at the 2021 U.S. Open.
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