Emma Raducanu's latest bid for Grand Slam supremacy came to a premature end as the 21-year-old lost to Sofia Kenin in the first round of the US Open.
The 2021 Flushing Meadows champion controversially opted to skip qualifying for the Cincinnati and Canadian Opens to leave her without much match practice ahead of the competition, although she claimed pre-tournament that she had rediscovered her "spark".
The first-round encounter with Kenin pitted two former Grand Slam winners against each other, but Raducanu's second-set fightback was futile as Kenin triumphed 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes.
The American - who won the 2020 Australian Open - saw her aggressive style pay off with 45 winners compared to just 24 for Raducanu, who also missed six of the nine break points she fashioned in the first round.
Kenin's reward will be a second-round showdown with compatriot and sixth seed Jessica Pegula, who overcame Shelby Rogers in straight sets, but there was success elsewhere for the Brits on day one.
Dan Evans wins longest match in US Open history
UNBELIEVABLE! 🤯
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) August 27, 2024
From 0-4 down in the final set, Dan Evans won 6 games in a row to defeat Karen Khachanov 6-7, 7-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 🔥 pic.twitter.com/EuAbttMSUh
To say that Dan Evans has endured a challenging year on the court would be an understatement, but the world number 184 always had the number of his first-round foe Karen Khachanov, whom he has beat in their first four meetings before this year's US Open.
Despite sitting 162 places lower than the Russian in the rankings, Evans's 100% streak against Khachanov continued, but not without a gargantuan effort as the Briton won the longest singles match the US Open has ever seen.
Fighting back from a set down, Evans prevailed 6-7[6] 7-6[2] 7-6[4] 4-6 6-4 in a staggering five hours and 35 minutes, eclipsing the previous record - held by Michael Chang and Stefan Edberg's 1992 semi-final - by nine minutes.
"It was just a crazy, crazy match. It's one I'll remember obviously forever. It was sort of who could last the longest in the end. I was hurting all over really," the 34-year-old said after winning the 392-point epic.
"It's the longest I've ever been on a court. I was trying to stay out there as long as possible at love-four and just see where I could get myself. But, yeah, I don't really want to do that again. That's for sure."
Three more Brits through as Carlos Alcaraz progresses
© Reuters
Evans was one of four British representatives to progress to round two, after countryman Jack Draper enjoyed a more straightforward success over Zhang Zhizhen, who retired from their match at 3-6 0-6 0-4 down.
Katie Boulter and Harriet Dart also made it through to the women's second round, with the former coming back from a set down to defeat Belarusian qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 5-7 6-2 6-1, while Dart strolled past Chloe Paquet 6-1 6-2.
Elsewhere on day two, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz both triumphed in four-set scraps, with the former coming from a set down to beat Mackenzie McDonald and Alcaraz overcoming Li Tu 6-2 4-6 6-3 6-1.
Iga Swiatek, Jasmine Paolini, Elena Rybakina and Daniil Medvedev also progressed, while Naomi Osaka won her high-profile meeting with Jelena Ostapenko, but 2021 runner-up Leylah Fernandez and Stefanos Tsitsipas were among the early exits.
Ben Knapton
