Emma Raducanu raised a few eyebrows when she and Elena Rybakina decided to play doubles together at the Citi Open. The 2021 US Open champion and 2022 Wimbledon winner have both gone through turbulent periods since those titles and linked up in Washington.
Dubbed ER-squared, Raducanu and Rybakina reached the semi-finals by winning two matches, the first against Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalikova, the second against Giuliana Olmos and Aldila Sutjiadi.
They did not drop a single set before heading into the final four against Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai. The British-Kazakhstani duo trailed early in the first set and were forced to retire owing to Raducanu’s illness.
But it might not be the last time we see Raducanu and Rybakina share the court together, with the SW19 champ raving about her partner.
“Yeah, I think she’s really nice girl. It was a lot of fun,” Rybakina said about Raducanu in her press conference.
“Of course [it was a] tough match, but I’m happy that I played doubles, and I think it’s good as a practice, preparation for singles. So it was fun, and yeah, hopefully we can play a bit more in the future too.”
To be the first to receive the latest tennis news, join our WhatsApp community or newsletter
It was a partnership years in the making, with Raducanu revealing that they had planned to team up just after Rybakina became Wimbledon champion, having beaten Ons Jabeur in the 2022 final.
“How it came about, so in 2022 in Cincinnati, me and Elena were going to play doubles together, and that fell through,” the world No. 46 explained.
“Then here, when I was in D.C., I thought it would be a good idea to play doubles, get some extra matches in these conditions. It’s very different. And also the fact we were able to play before singles, I think that really helped.
“So, yeah, she was walking off the practice court, and I was on the practice court, and I was just, like, okay, I’ll give it a shot.
“I wasn’t really bothered if she said no. I asked her, and she was, like, Yeah, sure. That’s how it came about.”
The pair have also enjoyed deep runs in the singles competition, with Raducanu opting to compete more in both editions in order to help her conditioning in 2025.
She played alongside British No. 1 Katie Boulter at Queen’s, before enjoying a strong Wimbledon, taking Aryna Sabalenka the distance in an encouraging defeat before travelling to North America to play with Rybakina – for the first, but potentially not the last time.