Emma Raducanu delighted the Eastbourne crowd by dispatching Sloane Stephens in straight units within the first spherical of the Rothesay Worldwide.
The 21-year-old Briton on Monday declared herself again in love with the game following a torrid time with accidents. She delivered in model on her maiden outing at Devonshire Park, producing a string of eye-catching winners to triumph 6-4 6-0 in a big-hitting battle of former US Open champions.
Wildcard Raducanu will face second seed Jessica Pegula in spherical two.
“It was a really shut first set and I used to be down fairly a bit right through and managed to interrupt,” she stated on courtroom following victory. “Nevertheless it’s very troublesome as a result of Sloane is tremendous athletic and, within the first set particularly, she was making a whole lot of balls and counter punching very well. It took quite a bit to attempt to hit by her however I managed to determine it out within the second set.”
Raducanu missed the whole grass-court season final 12 months following surgical procedure on each wrists and one ankle. But she confirmed little signal of any health troubles as she warmed up for Wimbledon in devastating vogue by constructing on her latest run to the semi-finals of Nottingham.
Having been cheered on to Centre Court docket by a supportive house crowd, Raducanu was aggressive from the outset. A succession of early holds was adopted by 4 consecutive breaks of service throughout which the house favorite impressively dug in to stop 31-year-old American Stephens gaining the higher hand.
A deft drop shot adopted by an ace in sport 9 helped flip the competition in Raducanu’s favour earlier than she unleashed a surprising backhand cross-court winner en path to sealing the set.
She then cruised by the second set as world No 45 Stephens, who triumphed at Flushing Meadows in 2017, struggled to deal with her opponent’s energy and precision.
Cameron Norrie’s poor type continued as he crashed out of the Rothesay Worldwide in Eastbourne following a disappointing first-round defeat to world quantity 88 Emil Ruusuvuori.
The previous British No 1 has slipped exterior the highest 40 after shedding 9 of his earlier 15 matches, together with first-round exits on the French Open and Queen’s.
Norrie, who was additionally overwhelmed by world No 773 Jack Pinnington Jones at Nottingham, noticed his depressing run prolonged by a 7-6 (9), 6-3 exit by the hands of 25-year-old Finn Ruusuvuori.
The 28-year-old was ranked eighth on the planet simply 18 months in the past and can start Wimbledon subsequent week with solely restricted aggressive preparation on grass.
Norrie did not capitalise on two break factors within the sixth sport of a decent opening set and was subsequently unable to grab a pair of set factors within the tie break.
Ruusuvuori recovered from each 40-0 and 40-15 down to avoid wasting service video games within the second set, both aspect of claiming a decisive break, to sentence Norrie to his maiden first-round exit in 5 visits to Devonshire Park.
Elsewhere, fellow Briton Paul Jubb claimed his first ATP Tour win by defeating German Maximilian Marterer on the Mallorca Championships. The 24-year-old, who has acquired a Wimbledon wild card, progressed to the final 16 with a 6-1 6-2 success after coming by qualifying.
Supply hyperlink
