Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu said she was proud of her performance as she picked up her first win in 48 days after beating American Peyton Stearns 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in the first round of the Korea Open in Seoul on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old, who faced a first-round exit from the US Open last month, lost four games in a row after taking a 4-1 lead in the first set as Stearns fought back, but was able to prevail in the tiebreak.
Stearns won three games in a row to go from 5-3 down to serve for the second set, but Raducanu broke to force another tiebreak where she won again.
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“I’m proud to have made it through to the next round… it was very humid, the ball was bouncing around a lot. It was a tough match to get through,” Raducanu said after the match.
“I haven’t played many matches in the last few months and Peyton, she’s a really good player and on really good form. I’m really pleased.”
Raducanu will play Chinese eighth seed Yuan Yue in the second round.