England’s Emma Raducanu collected a memorable win in the opening round of the Western & Southern Open, defeating Serena Williams 6-4, 6-0 in the pair’s first ever meeting.In what could end up being the second-last tournament of Williams’ career, after confirming she will retire after the U.S. Open beginning later this month, the 40-year-old showed fight early on against the 19-year-old world number 11 on Tuesday, reports DPA.After getting broken to love in the very first game of the match, Williams found her footing, and even secured a break of her own in the opening set, but a second for Raducanu saw her comfortably serve out the opening frame.
The second set was domination, as Williams was only able to win 35 per cent (seven-of-20) of her service points, and 20 per cent (three-of-15) while returning.Venus Williams, 42, was also eliminated in her opening match, going down 7-5, 6-1 against Karolina Pliskova, with Pliskova now scheduled to take on Elise Mertens in the second round after a 6-1, 6-1 thrashing of Ukraine’s Anhelina Kalinina.Earlier in the day, Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic was upset 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4 by Belgium’s Sorana Cirstea, and four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka went down to China’s Shuai Zhang 6-4, 7-5.Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya collected a top-30 win against Martina Trevisan 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, earning a second-round matchup against world number seven Aryna Sabalenka.

