Emma Raducanu, Britain’s number one tennis player, held back her emotions to win her first-round match at the Korea Open against Jaqueline Cristian of Romania.
The 22-year-old, who chose to play in Seoul instead of representing Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, looked upset during the first set and appeared close to tears after a missed shot. But she recovered to win 6-3 6-4.
The match had already been delayed by rain, and Raducanu was under pressure early on. At 3-3 in the first set, she faced two break points but stayed calm and held her serve. A double fault from Cristian helped Raducanu go ahead 5-3.
Raducanu saved two more break points while serving for the set and eventually won it after one hour and seven minutes.
In the second set, Raducanu showed great skill with a running forehand winner and broke Cristian’s serve twice. She broke again in the ninth game and, despite facing another break point, held on to win the match in two hours and two minutes.
“I’m super happy to have won,” Raducanu said afterwards.
“It hasn’t been easy. I feel like I’ve played this match over the last three days. But I’m really pleased with how I came through.
Jaqueline is a tough opponent. The conditions were slow and made for long rallies, so I’m happy to be through.”
Raducanu said playing on the WTA Tour instead of the Billie Jean King Cup was better for her game and her new coaching partnership with Francisco Roig.
She will face two-time Grand Slam champion Barbora Krejcikova in the next round. Krejcikova beat Tatiana Prozorova 6-1 6-2.