Tag: Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu produced a commanding performance at the U.S. Open on Wednesday as the 2021 champion swept aside Indonesian qualifier Janice Tjen 6-2 6-1 to reach the third round.

The 22-year-old, who earned her first victory at the tournament in her opening match on Sunday since lifting the trophy, faced a spirited challenger in Tjen, fresh off an historic upset over 24th seed Veronika Kudermetova.

Yet Raducanu’s sharp serving and relentless pace proved too much, as she raced to the finish line in just an hour, her quickest Grand Slam win.

“I’m very pleased with how I played today. Janice is a super dangerous opponent, and I thought any ball that I put that wasn’t good enough, she just put away,” Raducanu said.

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“Janice is playing some really dangerous tennis and beat one of the top seeds in the first round.

“I’m sure she can build and take a lot of confidence from this. I’m looking forward to the next time I play her.”

Raducanu seemed locked in from the outset, earning a break in her first return game before holding after saving three break points to open up a 3-0 lead.

Britain’s number one never allowed Tjen to find her rhythm, closing out the first set with solid serving and powerful groundstrokes.

She never took her foot off the gas and broke twice in the second set to take another decisive lead before serving out the match, completing a stellar performance that featured 16 winners, eight aces and no double faults.

She will face either Czech teenager Tereza Valentova or 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the next round.

World number two Iga Swiatek romped into the third round of the Australian Open  to set up a high-profile clash with 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu.

While Poland’s Swiatek was racing past world number 49 Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena on Thursday, Britain’s Raducanu was entering uncharted waters on the nearby Kia Arena.

Raducanu had reached the second round in Melbourne on three previous occasions but never advanced further.

She was forced to battle in a topsy-turvy match against her good friend Amanda Anisimova, both players exchanging multiple breaks before she came through 6-3, 7-5.

On Melbourne Park’s centre court, Swiatek broke the Slovakian’s opening service game and never looked back.

Sramkova was playing in a Grand Slam second round for the first time and had no answer to the precision and power of the Pole.

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Swiatek won 64 percent of points off the Slovakian’s first serve in an opening set that lasted 27 minutes, the Pole dropping just 10 points.

Sramkova finally got on the board in the eighth game of the match, to huge cheers from the sympathetic crowd.

But Swiatek remained in control, closing out a comprehensive victory after exactly one hour.

“I felt really solid today and it was a really efficient game,” said Swiatek. “I’m happy that I kept my focus.”

Raducanu said she was looking forward to the challenge of playing against Swiatek.

“It will be a very good match for me,” she said of facing the five-time Grand Slam champion.

Raducanu, now ranked 61, missed a large part of the 2023 season following wrist and ankle surgery, and was then sidelined for two months by a foot injury.

She pulled out of her Australian Open warm-up event in Auckland with a back niggle and needed an injury timeout for a tight leg muscle when 3-0 down in the second set against Anisimova.

“Every match I can play against these top opponents, I’m loving it,” she added.

“It’s an opportunity to test my game, see where I’m at,” she said.

“I have nothing to lose, I’m just going to swing and give it my best.”

Swiatek, who lost her top ranking to defending champion Aryna Sabalenka last season after a one-month doping ban, has a poor record in Melbourne by her lofty standards.

She has only once progressed beyond the fourth round, in 2022, when she lost in the semi-finals.

Swiatek now has Naomi Osaka’s former coach Wim Fissette in her corner after hooking up with the Belgian towards the end of last year.

He has installed a hitting partner for Swiatek as she aims to improve her record in Australia, and she said the partnership was working well.

“He’s been great,” said Swiatek. “I feel like he’s really supportive.

“And you know being on the women’s tour, I think it’s not easy especially when most of the coaches are men. They also need to understand what we go through sometimes.

“I feel like Wim is doing that very well.

Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu pulled out of the Auckland Classic on Tuesday with a “back niggle” in a blow to her Australian Open preparations.

Britain’s Raducanu will now fly to Melbourne to begin rehabilitation ahead of the year’s first major starting on January 12.

The 22-year-old has suffered a series of injuries since bursting onto the scene with her New York triumph in 2021.

 “I’ve tried my best to be ready. I love Auckland and the fans here,” the 56th -ranked Raducanu said. “But unfortunately I’ve picked up a back niggle and I won’t be ready in time.”

Raducanu is travelling with renowned fitness coach Yutaka Nakamura in an attempt to better withstand the rigours of professional tennis.

Raducanu missed a chunk of 2023 following wrist and ankle surgery, and was recently side-lined for two months by a foot injury.

Former Australian Open semi-finalist Elise Mertens also withdrew hours before the second seed’s first-round match in Auckland.

The tournament has been shorn of four of its eight seeds in the first round.

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Third-seeded American Amanda Anisimova was upset in three sets by compatriot Alycia Parks to join Raducanu, Mertens and fourth-seeded New Zealander Lulu Sun in an early exit.

Errors crept into Anisimova’s game after winning the first set, going down 2-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Top seed Madison Keys defied blustery conditions to win her first-round match in straight sets over Lucia Bronzetti.

American world number 21 Keys was relieved to start her season with a solid 6-4, 6-4 outing against the Italian.

 “I feel like we all come out, we’re a little bit nervous, but it’s obviously so much fun to be back out here,” she said. “Lucia is one of those players who’s just going to make you keep on having to play shots. So it’s great for the confidence this early in the season.”

The 29-year-old will next play unseeded Romanian Jaqueline Cristian after her Ukrainian opponent Yuliia Starodubtseva retired during their second set.

Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin beat China’s Wang Xiyu 7-6 (7⁄5), 6-1, the American setting up a second-round match against fifth-seeded Dane Clara Tauson.