The 2021 US Open winner earned a bye into the second stage of the WTA 1000 event courtesy of her 30th seeding, while Danilovic took down Katie Boulter in round one and now aspires to secure a second British beating in the space of two days.<\/p>\n
Match preview<\/p>\n
An unfamiliar sight since the first few months after her Grand Slam success, Raducanu is back among the seeds for a prestigious tennis event, albeit thanks to a few high-profile withdrawals.<\/p>\n
Had Qinwen Zheng, Mirra Andreeva and Paula Badosa not pulled out of the Masters competition, Raducanu would have been forced into a first-round scrap, but the current world number 39 benefitted from her rivals’ injury problems to skip the opening stage.<\/p>\n
After giving a good account of herself in a battling Wimbledon defeat to world number one Aryna Sabalenka, Raducanu’s hard-court swing began in exceptional fashion with not one, but two semi-final appearances at the Washington Open, progressing to the final four in both singles and doubles.<\/p>\n
The 22-year-old did not advance by chance either – three esteemed names in Naomi Osaka, Marta Kostyuk and Maria Sakkari fell to her superiority in the singles tournament – but her run in Montreal earlier this month was slightly more modest.<\/p>\n
Identical victories over Elena-Gabriela Ruse and Peyton Stearns (6-2 6-4) preceded a chastening defeat at the hands of Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova, who dropped just three games en route to eliminating the British number one.<\/p>\n
![\"Olga](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/uploads\/2025\/08\/imago1063135771-1-6896543e0238.webp\"\/)
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However, Raducanu now has more than one incentive to take down Danilovic in their first-ever WTA Tour head-to-head, as the Serbian 24-year-old was responsible for Boulter’s premature exit from Cincinnati on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Danilovic brutally bagelled the former British number one in the first set before showcasing a different side of her game in the second, fighting back from a break down twice to seal a terrific 6-0 7-5 first-round triumph.<\/p>\n
At 4-5 down in the second with Boulter serving to level the match, Danilovic saved two set points before gaining critical momentum with a hard-fought break back, which preceded a winning game to love on the Briton’s serve.<\/p>\n
Thanks to Boulter’s wastefulness and diligent defensive work – perhaps taking after her partner, Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Jan Oblak<\/strong><\/a> – Danilovic saved six of the eight break points she faced in the first round, on what was her Cincinnati Open debut no less.<\/p>\n The 24-year-old leftie would achieve a best-ever Masters singles result with one more victory – she has never reached the third round of a WTA 1000 event before – and a glamour tie with Sabalenka or 2023 Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova will await Saturday’s worthy winner.<\/p>\n Tournament so farOlga Danilovic<\/p>\n First round: <\/strong>vs. Katie Boulter 6-0 7-5<\/p>\n We say: Raducanu to win in three sets<\/p>\n Danilovic allowing Raducanu to attack her second serves would be a fatal error, but the Serbian landed just 58% of her first serves against Boulter – a statistic that does not exactly bode well.<\/p>\n As the British number one has already bested some notable names in the early days of the hard-court swing, we have faith in Raducanu to prevail in a closely-contested battle and potentially set up a mouthwatering Sabalenka rematch.<\/p>\n![\"SM](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/https:\/\/sportsmole-media-prod.s3.gra.io.cloud.ovh.net\/20\/33\/sm-words-green-background.png\" "\\"SM")
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