"Difficult when you have to play someone you're close to" - Emma Raducanu gets honest after beating 'very good friend' in Canadian Open 1R

Emma Raducanu beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse in her opening-round match at the ongoing Canadian Open. After the match, Raducanu opened up about her relationship with Ruse and admitted it was hard to compete against a good friend.

Raducanu began her hard court season earlier this month at the Mubadala Citi DC Open. The youngster had a fantastic run in Washington, beating seventh seed Marta Kostyuk and four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka to reach the semifinals of the event.

Now, Emma Raducanu is in action in Montreal at the Canadian Open. For her first-round encounter at the WTA 1000 event, the 2021 US Open champion beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-2, 6-4. After her win over the Romanian, Raducanu admitted the duo were good friends, telling media,

"I'm so happy to come through that. I know Elena, she's a very good friend of mine, and it's difficult when you have to play someone you're close to, so I'm really proud of how I put that to one side for the match and backed up a good week last week in DC and performed well today.

"It's extremely difficult [to play someone you know]. We spent a lot of time together in off-court practices, and she's a great girl. It's not nice when you see her name in the draw but I'm really pleased with how I performed with myself” she added.

This meeting between Raducanu and Ruse marked the second time the two players have competed against each other on the WTA Tour.

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Emma Raducanu set to take on Payton Stearns in round of 64 clash at the Canadian Open

Raducanu in action at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open presented by Rogers (Image Source: Getty)

After her dominant display in her opening-round match at the Canadian Open, Emma Raducanu will now run into American Payton Stearns for her second round encounter in Montreal.

Raducanu and Stearns have played each other twice before, and both times it has been the Brit who emerged victorious. The duo's first meeting came in July 2024, when they played each other in Washington. While Stearns put on a strong fight, Raducanu walked away with the win 7-6(6), 6-2.

Later that year, the two tennis stars faced off against each other on the hard courts in Seoul, Korea. Once again Raducanu claimed a hard-fought victory, with the scoreline reading 7-6(4), 7-6(5) in the Brit's favour.

Now, Emma Raducanu and Payton Stearns will battle it out at the Canadian Open. The duo are scheduled to be in action on Tuesday, July 29, and fans can expect an exciting match.