Emma Raducanu Powers Past Daria Kasatkina at Internationaux de Strasbourg
British tennis star Emma Raducanu has continued her impressive form on clay, surging past former world No 8 Daria Kasatkina at the Internationaux de Strasbourg. According to Sky Sports, Raducanu completed a confident 6-1 6-3 victory at the WTA 500 tournament, her final event before the French Open, which begins on Sunday.
Raducanu, supported by her new coach Mark Petchey, moved beautifully and dictated the Russian-turned-Australian to secure three consecutive victories at the Italian Open last week and maintain her momentum against a player she had failed to defeat in their three previous encounters. As Sky Sports reports, Raducanu made a searing start by breaking her opponent in the opening game of the match and, despite being broken straight back, the 22-year-old proceeded to reel off the next five games to take the first set in just 29 minutes on the clay courts of Strasbourg.
Raducanu found it anything but straightforward so close to the winning line, spurning her first two match points due to a crisp Kasatkina return then a netted backhand slice. However, Kasatkina once again stepped up to save a third match point before Raducanu finally managed to get over the line at the fourth time of trying in a second set which featured seven breaks in eight games. As noted by Sky Sports, Raducanu will next face American Danielle Collins, who beat compatriot Sofia Kenin in three sets.
In her post-match interview, Raducanu reflected on her performance, stating, "I’m really proud of my performance. How I came out and I was really aggressive. I also managed to maintain my focus in the second set when it was getting close and Daria was playing some great points when I was trying to serve the match out so I’m really proud of today’s performance." As quoted by Sky Sports, Raducanu added, "I think I’ve been building towards this. It’s a great feeling because I think I had three great matches in Rome and the fourth I played an opponent who was better than me on the day [Coco Gauff]. To kind of bring that level here, I’m really proud. But I think as I spend more time on clay I’m starting to like it a little bit more and more. I’m building my relationship with the surface."
The 22-year-old won every single type of exchange against an opponent who is currently ranked No 17 in the world. Raducanu played mature tennis, using plenty of variety, bringing in the slice, moving well and using the drop shot to illustrate how confident she is right now. According to Sky Sports, Raducanu looks like she is in a good place under the guidance of Andy Murray’s former coach Petchey and long-time ally Jane O’Donoghue.
In other tennis news, Jacob Fearnley claimed a straight-sets victory against wildcard Dusan Lajovic in the opening round of the Gonet Geneva Open. British No 3 Cameron Norrie defeated Dominic Stricker 7-6 (7-2) 6-3, eliminating the last standing Swiss in Geneva. In the Bitpanda Hamburg Open, Andrey Rublev recorded a 6-4 6-3 win following a tight encounter with Damir Dzumhur. World No 3 Alexander Zverev overcame a scare as he was made to battle for a 6-1 7-6 (5) victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic.
British No 1 Katie Boulter beat Chloe Paquet to claim her first clay court title at the WTA 125 Trophée Clarins on Sunday. Boulter – who only won her first tour match on clay in Madrid last month – captured her first title on the surface thanks to a comeback victory 3-6 6-2 6-3. The title win sees Boulter retain her status as the top-ranked British women’s singles player, moving up two spots to world No 38.
Harriet Dart was knocked out in the first round of French Open qualifying after being beaten 6-1 6-2 by Ukraine’s Anastasiia Sobolieva. A dominant Sobolieva broke the Briton’s serve twice in the opening set as she wrapped it up in 28 minutes. Dart was broken twice more at the start of the second set before responding with a break of her own, but Sobolieva continued to impress and closed out a comfortable victory.
