Emma Raducanu brushed apart Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-0 to advance to the second spherical of the Eastbourne Worldwide on Tuesday in a battle of former US Open champions.
Britain’s Raducanu recovered from being damaged twice within the first set earlier than demolishing her opponent within the second set to arrange a second-round match towards world quantity 5 Jessica Pegula.
Raducanu, who received the US Open as a qualifier in 2021, had slipped to 168th on the earth after an injury-plagued 2023 season.
The 21-year-old missed the French Open however returned to competitors on the Nottingham Open grass-court event earlier this month, the place she reached the semifinals.
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“I believe for me it was the case of adapting to the court docket,” stated Raducanu, who has been given a wild card for Wimbledon, which begins on July 1.
“I’ve by no means performed in Eastbourne, I’ve by no means performed on this centre court docket and each court docket performs a little bit bit in a different way. At first, I used to be attempting to determine what was one of the simplest ways for me to play and use my sport.”
Stephens, who received the US Open in 2017, broke first for a 3-2 lead however failed to carry serve for the remainder of the match.
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Raducanu, after saving two break factors to carry for 5-4, broke the American for a 3rd time to seal the primary set after which sprinted to the end line, finishing victory in 76 minutes.
Additionally in first-round motion on England’s south coast, Elise Mertens beat Yuriko Miyazaki 6-1, 6-2 whereas Ashlyn Krueger overcame Viktorija Golubic 6-1, 6-7 (7/9), 7-5.
Within the males’s event, Britain’s Cameron Norrie continued his woeful run of kind, shedding his first-round match towards Finland’s Emil Ruusuvuori 7-6 (11/9), 6-3.
Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild additionally superior with a 6-4, 6-4 win towards Australia’s James McCabe to arrange a second-round showdown with high seed Taylor Fritz.