NEW YORK (AP) — Emma Raducanu finally ended her winless rut at the U.S. Open, earning her first victory at the Grand Slam tournament since taking the 2021 title there as an 18-year-old qualifier, eliminating Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-2 in just 62 minutes on Sunday.
"Of course, I'm very, very pleased," Raducanu said, noting that it had been a while since she came out on the right side of a score in New York, “so it's extra special.”
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Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, reacts after beating Ena Shibahara, of Japan, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, returns a shot to Ena Shibahara, of Japan, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Francisco Roig, coach of Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, watches play during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, returns a shot to Ena Shibahara, of Japan, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, reacts after scoring a point against Ena Shibahara, of Japan, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
After her surprising championship four years ago, which remains her only tour-level trophy, Raducanu lost in the first round at Flushing Meadows in 2022, missed the tournament in 2023 — when she had operations on both of her wrists and an ankle — and again exited in her opening match a year ago.
“First rounds are always difficult, especially at a Slam,” Raducanu said Sunday. “There are always nerves.”
But Raducanu, who is now 22, has been enjoying something of a renaissance this season, putting in strong performances, even in a pair of losses to No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, and lifting her ranking from outside the top 70 to No. 36 this week, leaving the 22-year-old from Britain just outside the seedings at the U.S. Open.
On a partly cloudy and breezy morning, Raducanu came out strong in the day's first match at Louis Armstrong Stadium, needing just 40 minutes to lead by a set and two breaks at 3-0 in the second.
With her new coach, Francisco Roig, who worked with 22-time major champion Rafael Nadal for many years, sitting near a corner of the court and constantly offering positive reinforcement, Raducanu's groundstrokes frequently rushed Shibahara, a qualifier from Japan who is ranked 128th.
“Vamos!” Roig said at one point. “You’re doing very good.”
Shibahara hadn't dropped a set through her three qualifying wins — and Raducanu knows better than anyone what sort of momentum can be gained from that sort of prelude to the main draw. Raducanu is the only tennis player to win a Grand Slam title after needing to go through qualifying to earn a spot in the tournament bracket.
Since that life-altering triumph, though, things haven't gone to plan for Raducanu. In 2022, she became only the third reigning women's champion in the professional era to lose in the first round a year later, after Svetlana Kuznetsova and Angelique Kerber.
And then came several injury issues.
Raducanu is healthy now, and she showed what she can do when at her best against an overmatched opponent.
She faced only one break point — and saved it.
She made only six unforced errors — and made headway by allowing Shibahara to finish with 36.
“Managed myself, managed my game, during that match,” Raducanu said. “I see the progress I'm making on the practice court.”
Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, reacts after beating Ena Shibahara, of Japan, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, returns a shot to Ena Shibahara, of Japan, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Francisco Roig, coach of Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, watches play during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, returns a shot to Ena Shibahara, of Japan, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Emma Raducanu, of Great Britain, reacts after scoring a point against Ena Shibahara, of Japan, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand (AP) — A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people.
The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal.
The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government’s Public Relations Department.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage.
There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.
“At this moment, we still can’t say whether another collapse could happen,” he said, citing dangling steel plates. “That’s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.”
At the site of Wednesday's train derailment, the search for survivors ended, Nakhon Ratchasima Gov. Anuphong Suksomnit said. Three passengers listed as missing were presumed to have gotten off the train earlier, but that was still being investigated.
Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday.
The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.
Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters.
South Korea's Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead.
The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.
Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.
A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.
Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday's accident took place, though several other companies are also involved.
The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building's collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed.
Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai's president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project’s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand's Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments.
The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.
Associated Press writers Wasamon Audjarint in Bangkok and Hyung-jin Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this report.
Relatives of victims and others wait at a hospital, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Relatives wait at a hospital to receive bodies of victims, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan.15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
Forensic workers inspect the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A cuddly toy lies on the ground at the site of a train accident, a day after a construction crane fell into a passenger train in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A construction crane that collapsed on the Rama 2 Road elevated expressway in Samut Sakhon province, Thailand on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
