SNAPPING a four-game losing streak, British wildcard Emma Raducanu won her first match since the Australian Open with a straight sets victory over Greek talent Maria Sakkari, 6-4 6-2 in the Dubai Tennis Championships. Sakkari’s form of two wins from her past five was not much better, but in a battle of two players desperately needing a win, it was Raducanu who claimed the victory in the Middle East.

Raducanu cops more than her fair share of criticism for continued use of wildcard entries in return from injury, with that only fueled by the likes of Belinda Bencic‘s incredible comeback from maternity leave to begin at the bottom of the world rankings and lower ITF events to eventually win a WTA500 event within six months.

Raducanu on the other hand has focused squarely on remaining at the WTA Tour level, and while her wildcard entries have not yielded success recently, she was finally able to post a win in a big event with her straight sets triumph over Sakkari.

Raducanu needed an hour and 20 minutes to get the job done, converting five breaks from seven chances, while only conceding two of her own service games in the process. She played an economical match with 19 winners – including three aces – and 12 unforced errors, as the erratic Greek controlled most of the play off 31 winners and 32 unforced errors.

Though Sakkari did not play badly, she only won 53 per cent of her first serve points and a poor 20 per cent off her second serve. Compare that to 59 and 58 respectively, and it is easy to see why Raducanu was able to largely control play and hold seven of her nine service games in the match.

Reminiscent of her run to the 2022 US Open title, Raducanu looked confident inn her play, and she won seven of 11 key pressure points, while digging deep to also dominate the longer points. Of the 29 points with seven shots or more, Raducanu won 62 per cent of them, including a massive 11 of 14 from rallies lasting between seven to nine shots.

Her backhand was particularly effective, whacking 10 of her 19 winners off it for only six unforced errors, while her forehand was still a little shaky with just four winners for six unforced errors. However each time Sakkari responded to an earlier break of serve going Raducanu’s way, the Brit composed herself and broke the very next game, including to love in the seventh game of the first set.

Furthermore, breaking in the last game rather than even needing to serve out the match was a huge confidence booster for the wildcard, who at times given her US Open success it might be easy to forget she is just 22 years-old. Now ranked 60th in the world, Raducanu is eyeing off cracking back into the Top 50 and no longer needing those wildcards.

“I just tried to stay really focused on the point in front of me,” Raducanu said post-match. “There were some momentum shifts throughout the match and when I got broken twice early in the sets I just regrouped really well and I managed to break back [immediately] both times.

“I was really pleased with how I fought and competed against Maria, she’s a top player, been as high as three in the world. I’m just really proud of my performance.”

The win further edged Raducanu clear in the head-to-head between the former Top 10 players, with both of the other victories coming at Grand Slams with her US Open semi-final win against the Greek, as well as a second straight sets victory at Wimbledon last year.

Whether or not Raducanu can maintain the rage will be the question, with the Brit now coming up against 14th seeded Czech Karolina Muchova who quickly dispatched Dutch qualifier Suzan Lamens, 6-2 6-2. It was the theme of the day where all 12 matches that took place went just the minimum two sets.

Among the most one-sided contests were Bencic’s 6-0 6-2 rout over Japanese qualifier Aoi Ito, as well as Ukrainian Elina Svitolina smashing 15th seeded Anna Kalinskaya 6-1 6-2. Elise Mertens, Liudmila Samsonova and Marketa Vondrousova all had dominant 6-2 6-2 wins through to the second round, while the closest contest was that of American wildcard Sofia Kenin‘s 7-5 6-3 triumph over 16th seed Donna Vekic.

Ninth seeded Paula Badosa handed Lulu Sun her ninth loss in 10 matches since the New Zealander reached the Monterrey Open final last August, while the player who beat her in that decider in Czech Linda Noskova also won overnight, defeating Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 6-2 7-6. Other winners on the day were Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska and American qualifier Alycia Parks.

2025 DUBAI TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS WTA1000 – ROUND OF 64 RESULTS:

[9] Paula Badosa (ESP) defeated Lulu Sun (NZL) 6-3 6-4
[14] Karolina Muchova (CZE) defeated [Q] Suzan Lamens (NED) 6-2 6-2
Elina Svitolina (UKR) defeated [15] Anna Kalinskaya (RUS) 6-1 6-2
[WC] Sofia Kenin (USA) defeated [16] Donna Vekic (CRO) 7-5 6-3
Liudmila Samsonova (RUS) defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (RUS) 6-2 6-2
Dayana Yastremska (UKR) defeated Magda Linette (POL) 6-3 7-5
Linda Noskova (CZE) defeated Yulia Putintseva (KAZ) 6-2 7-6
Belinda Bencic (SUI) defeated [Q] Aoi Ito (JPN) 6-0 6-2
Marketa Vondrousova (CZE) defeated [WC] Caroline Garcia (FRA) 6-2 6-2
[WC] Emma Raducanu (GBR) defeated Maria Sakkari (GRE) 6-4 6-2
[Q] Alycia Parks (USA) defeated Xinyu Wang (CHN) 6-3 6-3
Elise Mertens (BEL) defeated Leylah Fernandez (CAN) 6-2 6-2