Magda Linette ended Jessica Pegula’s latest run in Cincinnati, winning a match resumed from Tuesday after thunderstorms. The No. 31 seed recovered from early double faults in the final set to produce the decisive break in the eighth game and take the match 7-6 (5), 3-6, 6-3.

Pegula entered the week as the world No. 4 and with strong memories of last year’s North American hard-court swing, when she went 15-2 and reached her first Grand Slam singles final at the US Open. A year after winning the National Bank Open and finishing runner-up at the Cincinnati Open, she has gone 2-2 in her returns to those events.

After play resumed, Linette held serve despite a pair of early double faults, then produced the match’s only break late in the third set. The 33-year-old saved all three break points she faced in the set that was completed on Wednesday.

Both of Linette’s Top 10 wins this season have come against U.S. opponents. She earlier beat then No. 3 Coco Gauff in the fourth round of the Miami Open to equal her best career WTA 1000 result. Linette can match that result this week if she advances past the winner of 16th seed Clara Tauson and Veronika Kudermetova.

Emma Raducanu arrives at the US Open feeling more composed after a strong showing in Cincinnati. In the third round of the WTA 1000 event she lost 6-7(3), 6-4, 6-7(5) to world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in a three-hour-and-nine-minute match. Raducanu came within three points of victory at 4-4 in the deciding-set tiebreak and this was her second close defeat to Sabalenka in two months, following a 6-7(6), 4-6 loss in the third round at Wimbledon.

Raducanu has compiled a 21-11 record since the start of the Miami Open in March. She is described in the draft as the world No 39 and is also noted as being up to 34th in the Live WTA Rankings. She reflected on the season and the change she has felt as she returns to the site of her 2021 title.

“This is my first year on tour playing most of the calendar,” said Raducanu. “I had a tough start to the year and it was very difficult to change that. But in the last few months I’ve been building and the level has been increasing.

“The players I’m playing and losing to, they’re all top players, so that gives me confidence.”

Raducanu’s only title to date came at the 2021 US Open, where she won as an 18-year-old qualifier without dropping a set. She admitted the 2024 US Open was difficult after a tough opening-round loss to Sofia Kenin but said this year feels different.

“I went home and came back and it was a really difficult time in New York [in 2024],” Raducanu reflected. “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.

“On the court, I take more confidence in the big moments. I’ve been playing those big points pretty well for the most part so I’m looking forward to having some time to practise, improve and then get ready to play there.”

Raducanu also commented on her new partnership with Francisco Roig, hired before Cincinnati. “The first week went well. I think we practised well and I made some improvements,” the Brit said. “For certain moments, you could see the stuff we practiced, but I just haven’t done it for long enough that I can’t do it for so long yet. But given it’s only been a week, I think there’s been improvements.

“I’m taking the feedback on board, and it was less technical, more about just trying to stay smooth, trying to stay through it, not retreating so much.

“I think during the match, I’m not too technical. Maybe in the past, I was, but less so now.”

Frances Tiafoe and Holger Rune meet again in Cincinnati with live coverage available on TennisChannel.com. The match is scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. ET on Wednesday, August 13. This pair’s return to the same venue produces immediate storylines because of what happened here a year ago.

Tiafoe arrives as the No. 14-ranked American; Rune is No. 9. Their meeting in Cincinnati is the first match-up in this men’s tournament between Top 15 players. Last year the two played in the semifinals at this event, a match Tiafoe won 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4). The result nearly went the other way: Rune led 5-2 in the third set and “had held double match point a few games later with Tiafoe serving at 4-5, 15-40.” That recovery remains a defining moment for Tiafoe at this event.

Tiafoe’s history at this time of year underlines his form here. He reached the biggest final of his career at this tournament a year ago and has also reached both of his career Grand Slam semifinals at the US Open, in 2022 and 2024. Rune comes in with the higher ranking and the memory of coming close to knocking Tiafoe out last year.

The match carries implications for both players in Cincinnati. For Tiafoe, a win would move him another step toward repeating last year’s deep run. For Rune, it is a chance to avenge a narrow loss in identical surroundings.