- Raducanu defeated Peyton Stearns in the first round of the Korea Open in Seoul
- The 21-year-old defeated the American in a match that lasted nearly three hours
- It was Raducanu’s first victory since her tearful first-round exit at the US Open
Emma Raducanu battled for victory against American Peyton Stearns in the opening round of the Korea Open.
A chaotic match that featured 12 service breaks eventually ended in favor of the former US Open champion after two hours and 43 minutes, as she won 7-6 (4) 7-6 (5) in Seoul.
It was Raducanu’s first victory since beating the same player in Washington in late July. The 21-year-old’s only tournament in August was the US Open, where she lost in the opening round to Sofia Kenin.
Raducanu was emotional after the defeat and admitted with tears in her eyes that she had made a mistake with her planning and that she wanted to play more matches.
She has committed to a reasonably full programme for the end of the season and has started this positively, although there have been some setbacks along the way.
Raducanu claimed her first victory since late July when she defeated Peyton Stearns in Korea
The 21-year-old defeated her American rival in a match that lasted just under three hours
Raducanu was visibly emotional after her first-round loss at this year’s US Open
Raducanu led 4-1 in the first set and had a 40-0 advantage on serve, but lost four games in a row and then missed two set points when trying to serve out the set at 6-5, before eventually deciding the set in a tiebreak.
The second set was on serve until Raducanu broke out and took a 5-3 lead. Again, her serve was off and Stearns, who is 22 places higher in the world rankings (48), lost three games in a row, but also lost her serve at the decisive moment.
This meant that the set once again ended in a tiebreak and this time Raducanu finally managed to reach the finish, setting up a showdown with eighth-seeded Chinese Yuan Yue.
Speaking on court, she said: “I’m proud to have made it to the next round. It was tough. It was very humid, the ball bounced a lot.
“It was a tough game to get through. I haven’t played many games in the last few months and Peyton, she’s a really good player and in really good shape. I’m really happy.”