Raducanu reaches third round in Montreal

Emma Raducanu continued to build momentum before next month's US Open with a straight-set win over American Peyton Stearns at the Canadian Open.

British number one Raducanu, a shock champion at the New York slam in 2021, progressed to the third round 6-2 6-4.

The 22-year-old has won five of her six matches during the North American summer hard-court swing, after reaching the Washington Open last week.

She will next play Wimbledon runner-up Amanda Anisimova, after the American fifth seed defeated New Zealand's Lulu Sun 6-4 7-6 (7-5).

World number 33 Raducanu proved too strong for 32nd seed Stearns and has now won all three meetings against her.

An early break put her in control of the first set before she took her sixth set point on her opponent's serve.

Raducanu trailed 4-2 after falling a break down in the second, but produced an impressive finish with a run of four consecutive games to clinch victory.

"I'm really happy with how I came through in that match," Raducanu said.

"I kind of lost my focus at some moments in the second set and she took advantage, but very happy that I came through against a top opponent and happy to extend my stay in Montreal.

"I just want to say thank you [to supporters], I saw the Union Jack in clutch moments and I was actually born in Canada, so to me it means so much to do well here."

Raducanu's impressive performances on hard courts over the past fortnight follow her encouraging run at Wimbledon, where she defeated former champion Marketa Vondrousova and pushed world number one Aryna Sabalenka in her third-round defeat.

British number two Cameron Norrie exited the men's draw on Wednesday after a surprise second-round defeat by world number 99 Aleksandar Vukic.