Emma Raducanu’s smile is back.
So is her game.
The young Brit broke her three-year U.S. Open drought, winning her first match in Flushing Meadows since the breakthrough 2021 title that changed her life.
Radacanu rolled past qualifier Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium with a 26-minute first set and a brisk one-hour domination.
She’s cleared a huge mental hurdle, making New York her happy place for the first time in years.
“Yeah, it has been on my mind,” said Radacanu, 22. “It’s been four years, and it’s a very special tournament for me. I did feel different coming into it this year. I felt like I was doing the right things day to day, but still, it’s in the back of your head. So I’m just very pleased to have overcome that.
“It’s my first win here since 2021, so it’s extra special. First rounds are always difficult and especially at a Slam. I’m just so happy with the way I came through that.”
Radacanu won the 2021 U.S. Open as an 18-year-old qualifier, dazzling with not just her game but her megawatt smile.
But after her title defense ended with a first-round loss to Alize Cornet — making her just the fourth reigning U.S. Open champ ousted in the opening round — she missed 2023 due to injury and suffered another first-round exit last year to Sofia Kenin.
She acknowledged New York had become a mental hurdle.
“I really struggled when I came back in 2022. I didn’t enjoy coming back here,” Radacanu said. “Now is the first time that I feel like I can come back to the U.S. Open and really enjoy the memories that I made here. I can be proud of that and see it as a happy place.”
Radacanu looked happy on the court Sunday, serving well and taking an aggressive return position.
She seemed confident, self-assured and in control.
She also seemed comfortable with her new coach, Francisco Roig.
Rafa Nadal’s ex-coach, the Spaniard constantly gave loud positive reinforcement.
“I put a lot of trust in what I’m doing with Francisco on the practice court,” Radacanu said. “We’re just working really well, doing the right stuff on the practice court, and I just feel like I’m improving. To take confidence from what I’m doing behind the scenes and not just have confidence because I’ve won these matches on the tour.
“I’m doing a lot day to day. It’s going well, and I’m enjoying it. I’m enjoying getting better, and the process of feeling like, at the end of the day, I’m satisfied I got a little bit better and just repeating it. That’s probably the biggest success and reason why I feel the way I do right now.”
Despite being nervous beforehand, starting quickly helped Radacanu settle in.
She ended up with an encouragingly clean match, just six unforced errors — one in the second set — to 36 by her outmatched Japanese foe.
Raducanu raced out to a quick 5-0 lead and cruised.
“I started off really well, and that helped relax me a lot,” she said. “Especially serving first game, that was a confident start, and then I felt like I could keep going.”
Now, Raducanu has a chance to keep going.
She’s provisionally up to world No. 33 in the live rankings after the win and well-placed to crack the top 30.
With No. 24 Veronika Kudermetova getting upset by Janice Tjen, Raducanu gets to face another qualifier.
With an extra day baked into the first round this year, she’ll get some free time in New York, now a happy place again.
“My nana — it’s not my actual grandma, but I’m like her adopted granddaughter, I’d like to think — she’s from New York, and she told me to go to the Frick Collection,” Raducanu said. “I’ve been into my art a lot more recently, and it’s reopened after I think four or five years of being under construction. That will be really exciting.”
