World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka survived a three-hour, 10-minute battle to edge former US Open champion Emma Raducanu 7-6(3), 4-6, 7-6(5) at the WTA 1000 Cincinnati Open on Monday. The Belarusian’s victory delivered her 49th win of the season and stretched her personal run of tiebreak successes to 16, propelling her into the tournament’s fourth round. Raducanu, playing under new coach Francisco Roig, matched Sabalenka shot for shot and saved four break points in a 13-deuce game late in the decider. Despite the spirited performance, the Briton’s projected ranking of No. 34 leaves her outside the top-32 seeding line for the upcoming US Open. The match was punctuated by off-court drama. Raducanu’s complaint about a persistently crying child drew an offer from chair umpire Miriam Bley to remove the youngster, a proposal the player ultimately declined. Earlier, Raducanu received a warning for approaching Roig in breach of on-court coaching rules. Sabalenka will face Spain’s Jéssica Bouzas Maneiro next as the revamped Cincinnati event, fresh from a $260 million expansion that added ten courts and a new two-story players’ lounge, seeks to reinforce its reputation as the sport’s de-facto fifth Grand Slam.