Emma Raducanu dealt TOUGH draw in third round of the US Open against former Wimbledon champion

There will be no repeat of Emma Raducanu’s charmed path to the US Open title as she takes on 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the third round.

Raducanu has dropped only six games in dispatching two qualifiers so far but Rybakina will offer a significant test of her excellent form under coach Francis Roig.

Cam Norrie and Jacob Fearnley are the two other Brits left standing in New York; they too have had kind draws so far but no longer.

Norrie made extremely heavy weather of things against Francisco Comesana, twice being broken when serving for the match before coming through 7-6, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 in exactly four hours. His reward is a meeting with the great Novak Djokovic, also on Friday.

Jacob Fearnley won his first-round match late on Tuesday against Roberto Bautista Agut and faces the imposing figure of No3 seed Alexander Zverev on Thursday.

So, which Brit has the best chance of an upset? It is probably Raducanu. She is playing so well and was asked, before her opponent was known, whether she would like to face Rybakina to test her level.

‘Yeah, I do,’ she said. ‘She's a top opponent. She's won Wimbledon. She's been at the top of the game for so long and very dominant and has big weapons, has a huge serve and big groundstrokes. So I do want to see how my game suits and fits against the top.

‘I still think I have a long way to go, but I think I have been making steps towards getting closer and narrowing that gap. I think I have to take confidence from my matches against Aryna (Sabalenka) in Cincy and Wimby.

‘But Elena is a different opponent. She beat Aryna in Cincy in straight sets. It's going to be a tough match.’