Emma Raducanu booked her place in the third round of the US Open after securing a straight sets victory over Janice Tjen on Wednesday.
It might be feeling a little like 2021 for Raducanu, who remarkably won the Grand Slam that year as a qualifer. Then, she navigated the whole tournament without dropping a set. This time it is so far, so good for the British No. 1.
Tjen, a 23-year-old qualifier, may have looked to Raducan’s story for inspiration, but she will have to wait for another yeat to make her mark, though, after being crushed 6-2, 6-1 by the Brit in exactly an hour on Louis Armstrong Stadium.
It was even swifter than her first-round victory over another qualifier, Ena Shibahara, which had been her fastest grand slam win.
“I’m very pleased with how I played,” Raducanu said. “Super dangerous opponent, she was playing extremely well. I’m just looking forward to building day by day, doing my best.”
For the second match in a row, Raducanu began the contest with an ace, and that set the tone for a terrific performance, particularly on serve.
She lost only seven points on her own delivery in the first set, hitting five aces — eight in the match — and relentlessly targeted the Tjen backhand.
The Indonesian has modelled her game on former world No. 1 Ash Barty and her heavy topspin forehand was a key weapon in her standout round-one victory over 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova.
Tjen has won a huge amount of matches on the lower tours since graduating from college in California last year but she will not have faced many players at Raducanu’s level.
This was another demonstration of just how well the British No. 1 is playing — her strong serve backed up by precision groundstrokes, tactical acumen and excellent movement.
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She will need all those to be on point if she faces former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina next, but Raducanu will rightly feel that she can be a significant obstacle for anyone in the draw.
The 22-year-old got better and better here, breaking serve twice in the first set and then racing through the second, with Tjen at a loss as to how to stem the flow of games against her.
She finally got on the board after seven in a row to avoid the love set but Raducanu confidently served out the contest.
