In a tiebreak tug of war between champions, it’s courage that counts.

World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka was brave and bold on pivotal points out-dueling Emma Raducanu 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(5) in a three hour, nine-minute thriller to battle into the Cincinnati Open fourth round.

Consider the scorching 90-degree heat, sweltering 48 percent humidity—and the fact both champions refused to back down—and this was one of the highest-quality matches we’ve seen on the WTA Tour this season.

Showing supreme tiebreaker toughness, Sabalenka stormed net and knifed a slick backhand volley that clung to the sideline like metal to a magnet to earn double match point at 6-4 in the third-set breaker.

Credit a resilient Raducanu for bolting her 10th ace down the T to save the first match point.

Shaking that strike off, Sabalenka singed the center stripe with her eighth ace to end an enthralling epic.

In a show of deep mutual respect, both Grand Slam champions embraced at net like boxers who had thrown haymakers at each other for three hours while Cincinnati fans saluted the pair with a well-deserved standing ovation.

Afterward, Sabalenka said playing the marathon match in oppressive heat felt like “aging.”

“I was pretty happy with that shot [the backhand volley], but I think I just went for quite brave decisions and I think that’s why I got the win,” Sabalenka told Tennis Channel’s Prakash Amritraj afterward. “The whole time I’ve been thinking ‘this is what they call aging.’

“I was like this is how it feels to be old. I looked at Emma and she was liked pumped, she was ready to play the next point. And I was like still trying to recover my breath and I was like what’s going on?…

“I was just like trying to control my breathe, do those slow exhales and make sure I can breathe normal. I don’t know. I was hoping I would be able to stay there in these conditions and get the win.”

A fierce fight saw Raducanu rise up and stand tall on serve in a gutsy 31-point, 23 minute 15-second hold to level the final set at 4-all by converting her 11th game point in a gripping game.

Many players might have needed a breather or a sling for their serving arm after that arduous task. Not Raducanu.

Showing her net skills, Sabalenka sealed the ninth and 11th games with volley winners to go up 6-5 in the decider.  Raducanu responded with her 13th consecutive hold of the match to force the tiebreaker.

Pressure-packed tiebreakers provoke deep desire and discipline in Sabalenka, who has now won 16 consecutive tiebreakers improving to a stellar 18-1 in 2025 tiebreakers. Sabalenka’s 18 tiebreaker victories are an Open Era record on the WTA Tour.

It’s a gut-wrenching loss for Raducanu, but she should hold her head high knowing she pushed the world No. 1 to places Sabalenka is rarely forced to visit. Serving shrewdly, Raducanu out-aced the top seed, saved six of eight break points and though she committed nine double faults you can’t fault the Briton for going after her second serve after seeing Sabalenka clock clean return winners on second serves sitting near the middle of the box.

Despite playing in extreme heat, Sabalenka looked eager and enthusiastic for the final-set fight as she raised her 2025 record to a WTA-best 49-9.

It was Sabalenka’s second straight win over a Slam champion following her opening win over Marketa Vondrousova.

The reigning Cincinnati champion Sabalenka will face Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in the fourth round. Bouzas Maneiro was a 6-4, 6-1 winner over doubles world No. 1 Taylor Townsend earlier today.

Both Sabalenka and Raducanu have new voices in their coaching boxes in Cincinnati.

The 22-year-old Raducanu has hired Rafael Nadal’s longtime former coach, Francisco Roig as her new coach. Roig succeeds Mark Petchey, whose commentary commitments with Tennis Channel prevented him from continuing what was a successful pairing with Raducanu.

Across the net, Sabalenka welcomes The Beast of Belarus, Max Mirnyi, to her box for the North American summer hard-court season. The owner of seven Grand Slam doubles champions, including the 2000 US Open with Lleyton Hewitt, Mirnyi also won doubles titles with Roger Federer and partnered Victoria Azarenka to the 2012 Olympic doubles gold medal for Belarus.

Accomplished serve-and-volleyer Mirnyi had to appreciate the way Sabalenka attacked net and volleyed in the final stages today.

In their last clash at Wimbledon, Raducanu was up a break in both sets before Sabalenka surged back saving a set point in the first set of a 7-6(6), 6-4 third-round win at The Championships.

Today, Raducanu rolled through nine points in a row at the start, including firing four forehand winners, for a 2-0 lead.

Sabalenka, who saved 12 break points in her Cincinnati opening-round win over former Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova, unleashed heavy hitting to forge through four straight games for a 4-2 lead. Raducanu broke back to level after eight games then denied a couple of break points battling through a six-minute hold for 5-4.

Throwing down her first love hold of the set, Sabalenka forced the first-set tiebreaker.

Condensed pressure can restrict some players in a tiebreaker, but Sabalenka isn’t one of them.

Armed with a 16-1 tiebreaker record this season, Sabalenka immediately scored the mini break, ripped a 92 mph forehand strike down the line for 3-1 then exploited a Raducanu double fault for 4-1.

“Forget about it,” Raducanu’s coach Roig urged from the box.

Slashing successive aces brought Sabalenka five set points at 6-1. Raducanu saved two, including rifling a backhand pass to close to 3-6.

Then Sabalenka slammed her fourth ace to seal a tight 54-minute opening set in style.

It was Sabalenka’s 15th straight tiebreaker victory as she improved to 17-1 in breakers in 2025.

Dotting the corners of the box on serve, Raducanu stayed in step with Sabalenka throughout the second set. Raducanu rolled her fourth ace to help her level the second set after six games.

Then the 2021 US Open champion made her move.

Ripping a deep return right through the middle of the court, Raducanu drew a backhand error on the next point to earn triple break point in the seventh game. Sabalenka saved two break points closing to 30-40. Standing toe-toe-toe with the No. 1 in a forehand exchange, Raducanu drew the forehand error breaking for 4-3.

Stinging serving to stretch the box helped Raducanu back up the break for 5-3.

When Sabalenka steered a backhand down the line long, the Briton gained double set point. On a second serve, Raducanu scalded her fifth ace off the sideline to seal the first set she’d won from Sabalenka and force a decider after 100 steamy minutes of play.

Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime said today’s sweltering conditions was “like playing in an oven.”

After a brief break, Sabalenka and Raducanu continued going toe-to-toe in the decider.

That marathon and engrossing eighth game so Raducanu earned 10 game points and Sabalenka create four break points, but neither could close.

Finally, after 23 minutes and 15 seconds, Raducanu sent a serve down the T holding perhaps the longest single game of her career with a fist and a shout for 4-all

Credit Sabalenka for shaking that off and coming back strong in a memorable tiebreaker.

I was so annoyed I didn’t win that one, but she played incredible,” Sabalenka said of the marathon game. “Last two serves were incredible from her. I was like keep pushing, keep pushing.

“Before, when I wasn’t that experienced, I would go crazy [after losing a game like that]. Because I would still be thinking about those opportunities that I didn’t use in that game and I easily lose my serve. This time, I was like okay, it’s in the past, move on.

“And I was focusing on my serve and I was like maybe in the next one I’ll be able to break because I was getting close to the break. So I think mentally I improved a lot. The main thing I kept telling myself was keep pushing, keep pushing, keep trying.”

In the end, the world No. 1—and Cincinnati fans—were big winners as both women dug deep exuding the competitive character that make them Grand Slam champions.

“Fun to watch, not fun to play,” a laughing Sabalenka told Prakash Amritraj of a match that offered punishing pleasure. “I go for the shots and I pray all the time…

“It’s fun afterwards.”