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Barry Cowan Analyzes Emma Raducanu’s Prospects as US Open Approaches

Barry Cowan discusses Emma Raducanu’s 2025 form and her chances at the upcoming US Open.

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Emma Raducanu has shown strong form in 2025, highlighted by a semi-final appearance at the Citi DC Open in Washington. The 22-year-old defeated Marta Kostyuk, Naomi Osaka, and Maria Sakkari without dropping a set before losing 4-6, 3-6 to Anastasia Kalinskaya in the semi-finals. Raducanu’s performance at this WTA 500 event earned her 194 points and helped her climb 13 spots in the rankings to 33rd, improving on her 21-15 record this season.

After a challenging start to her year, with six losses in her first nine matches, Raducanu began gaining momentum starting with a quarter-final run in Miami following her partnership with coach Mark Petchey.

Former British player Barry Cowan offered his insights on Raducanu’s chances at the upcoming US Open, which begins on August 24. “Yeah, I think grass and fast hard courts are her best surfaces,” Cowan said. He attributed this to Raducanu’s excellent timing and aggressive baseline play, which helped her rush opponents in her 2021 US Open victory.

Cowan also pointed out the challenges she faces on slower surfaces like clay. Reflecting on Raducanu’s Washington performance last year, he noted, “You can’t expect to play one great week and then not play for three or four weeks and then pick it up. At 30 years of age or 35 years of age, if you’re a [Novak] Djokovic, or further back, Serena Williams — that’s okay. But for Raducanu, she needs matches.”

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Looking ahead, Raducanu will open her campaign at the WTA 1000 event in Montreal against world No. 56 Elena Gabriela Ruse next week. Her recent form and tactical improvements suggest she will be a player to watch as the US Open approaches.

Analytics & Stats ATP

Djokovic Sets New Standard with 860 Weeks in ATP Top 5

Novak Djokovic begins his record 860th week in the ATP Top 5, overtaking Roger Federer’s mark. Now.

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Novak Djokovic has extended his dominance in the ATP rankings by beginning his 860th career week inside the Top 5, a mark that moves him past Roger Federer’s previous record of 859 weeks.

The player currently listed at No. 4 on the rankings reached the milestone this week, adding another long-term statistical achievement to a resume already dense with records. Official ATP rankings began in August of 1973, and Djokovic’s run now stands as the most career weeks in the Top 5 in ATP history.

The scale of his consistency is underlined by where those weeks were spent. Of the 860 Top 5 weeks, Djokovic has occupied the No. 1 position for 428 weeks, the clear lead in ATP rankings history. Federer is next with 310 weeks at No. 1.

Breaking that total down further highlights Djokovic’s sustained excellence: 49.8 percent of his Top 5 weeks (428) were at No. 1. He has spent 599 weeks in the Top 2, representing 69.7 percent of his Top 5 span. His time in the Top 3 totals 764 weeks, or 88.8 percent, and he has held a Top 4 position for 823 weeks, equal to 95.7 percent of his Top 5 weeks.

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Those numbers reflect a career defined by long stretches at the very top of the sport rather than brief spikes. Reaching 860 weeks in the Top 5 is a cumulative testament to performance across seasons and surfaces, and it establishes a new benchmark for longevity among the modern era’s leading players.

Roger Federer’s long-standing record of 859 weeks has now been overtaken, and the milestone underscores the extraordinary durability of Djokovic’s presence among the elite. And there’s another record on the horizon, too.

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Analytics & Stats Finals

No. 1 Seeds Extend Streak to Seven Straight WTA Titles

No. 1 seeds have won seven straight WTA events, compiling a 35-0 run across seven weeks. Remarkable.

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Elena Rybakina defeated Karolina Muchova to claim the Stuttgart crown, 7-5, 6-1, and Marta Kostyuk beat Veronika Podrez for the Rouen title, 6-3, 6-4. Those finals completed another chapter in an unusual run on the women’s tour: top seeds have won the last seven WTA events in a row.

The run began in early March with Aryna Sabalenka at Indian Wells and has continued through seven tournaments and seven weeks. Top seeds are 35-0 over the last seven weeks at WTA events: Sabalenka 6-0 at Indian Wells and 6-0 in Miami; Pegula 5-0 in Charleston; Bouzkova 5-0 in Bogota; Andreeva 4-0 in Linz; Rybakina 4-0 in Stuttgart; and Kostyuk 5-0 in Rouen.

Those 35 consecutive wins did not all come without drama. In the first tournament of the streak, Indian Wells, Sabalenka faced a match point against Rybakina down 6-5 in the third-set tie-break in the final before sneaking out the win, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6). In Stuttgart, Rybakina saved two match points in the third set, one down 5-4 and another down 6-5 in the breaker, to survive Leylah Fernandez in the quarterfinals, 6-7 (5), 6-4, 7-6 (6).

There were also a string of three-set victories elsewhere, including several from Pegula in Charleston before she closed out that event in straight sets. At each tournament the top seed has reached the finish line, producing an unbroken run of title-clinching performances by No. 1 seeds across the most recent slate of WTA events.

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CHAMPIONS AT THE LAST SEVEN WTA EVENTS:

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Analytics & Stats

Cirstea reaches 20 tour-level wins faster than ever in final season

Cirstea reached 20 tour-level wins in 2026 faster than ever, after announcing 2026 as her last year

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Sorana Cirstea reached a career milestone on Friday night, logging her 20th tour-level victory of 2026 and doing so earlier in the season than at any point in her two-decade career. The achievement came amid a campaign that has grown stronger since she announced in the off-season that 2026 would be her final year on tour.

Cirstea recorded the landmark win by defeating Anna Bondar 7-6 (2), 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the clay-court event in Rouen, France. That victory pushed her to 20 tour-level victories for the season faster than she ever previously managed. Her prior earliest 20th win came in 2013, when she reached the mark during the grass-court season in Birmingham.

The Romanian’s form this year has been notable. Now 20-6 in 2026, Cirstea has advanced to her second WTA semifinal of the season. Earlier in the year she captured the fourth WTA title of her career at the indoor hard-court event in Cluj-Napoca, Romania in February, which was also her first career WTA title on home soil. Observers traced the momentum back to a strong second half of 2025, after which she made the decision to make 2026 her swan song on the circuit.

The Rouen quarterfinal win underlined a consistency that has defined Cirstea’s campaign: effective conversion of tight moments, shown in a first-set tiebreak, followed by a more decisive second set. The result keeps her on course for another deep run at the clay-court event and extends a season that has already produced a title, multiple semifinals and a personal-best pace to 20 tour-level victories.

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As the season unfolds, Cirstea’s earlier-than-ever arrival at this milestone will remain one of the defining storylines of her final year on tour.

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