Emma Raducanu halts play to request crying child be ejected from crowd

Emma Raducanu’s tense Cincinnati Open clash against Aryna Sabalenka briefly took an unexpected turn when the Brit stopped play to address a persistent distraction from the stands — a crying child.

Midway through a closely contested set, Raducanu approached the chair umpire to voice her concerns, gesturing toward the area where the noise was coming from. According to those courtside, she requested that the child be removed, explaining that the constant disruption was making it difficult to focus.

The interruption occurred during one of the match’s most competitive phases, with Raducanu and Sabalenka trading powerful groundstrokes and fighting for every point. While the crying eventually subsided, the moment became a hot topic among fans, with some agreeing she had every right to ask for a quiet environment, and others feeling she should have played through the distraction.

Raducanu ultimately went on to lose the match in a narrow finish, but her on-court intervention ensured that the unusual incident will be remembered just as much as the tennis itself.