LOCAL young gun and US Open champion Emma Raducanu kick-started her Rothesay International campaign off with a convincing 6-4 6-0 domination of another US Open winner Sloane Stephens. Both players have had similar troubles since breaking out with a major win, with Raducanu’s unheard of race from qualifier to Grand Slam champion particularly a tough bar to live up to consistently.

However the Brit is now back and playing some strong tennis as she looks to chase a top 10 spot, though is currently way down in 168th. The win over the 45th ranked Stephens was Raducanu’s second in their head-to-head, with the other being a three-set victory over the American in the first round of the 2022 Australian Open.

In the clash on the Eastbourne grass, Raducanu won in 76 minutes, and collected 10 of the last 11 games, turning around a break in the fifth game of the first set that saw Stephens go 3-2 up. The Canadian-born British wildcard feels at home in England, and she looked it after “adjusting” to the grass, and hitting 23 winners for only 13 unforced errors, compared to Stephens’ 11 to 15.

“I think especially here in Eastbourne, maybe because the courts are fresh and very new, it is slower than Nottingham, for example,” Raducanu said post-match. “So I think me coming here, I really needed to adjust, because it dies on the courts and it gets very heavy, even after one or two games compared to the other tournaments’ three or four.”

Noticeably after the match, Raducanu wrote on the television camera “my own pace”, indicating that she had been too affected by external noise in the wake of becoming such an unprecedented Grand Slam champion. It had led to the youngster being overworked in chasing that dream.

“I think at one point I was chasing, playing too many tournaments when I wasn’t ready, and then I was just picking up niggle after niggle in every tournament,” Raducanu said. “because I never really gave myself any time to do the training and the work. I think that’s something I did a lot better this year.

“Even though I might get challenged or questioned for not playing certain tournaments like the French Open or the Olympics, I think that for me, that is just part of it. Doing things at my own speed and doing things how I want to rather than how everyone else thinks is best for me, because ultimately me and the close few people around me just only know what is actually best for me and my game.”

Raducanu will take on second seed Jessica Pegula in the second round of Eastbourne in what will be a huge challenge for the 21-year-old.

In other results, Raducanu’s compatriot Katie Boulter had an impressive win over Croatian lucky loser Petra Martic 6-1 7-6, though it was not as good news for 28-year-old wildcard Yuriko Lily Miyazaki who was comprehensively bundled out by Belgian Elise Mertens.

Across the other courts, American Ashlyn Krueger won the all-qualifier battle against Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 6-1 6-7 7-5, while Daria Kasatkina and Karolina Muchova also both advanced to the Round of 16.

AROUND THE COURTS

WTA 500 | Bad Homburg Open

Former top five player Paula Badosa ended the run of lucky loser Jule Niemeier after a comprehensive finish to a come-from-behind performance. Badosa won 4-6 6-2 6-1 over the local talent who knocked off top seed Maria Sakkari, to reach the quarter finals. Also into the last eight is Bulgarian qualifier Viktoriya Tomova who ousted young Czech Linda Noskova 6-4 6-2.

Croatian Donna Vekic was the third player into the last eight overnight, while in the final Round of 32 results, American Peyton Stearns and Russian Veronika Kudermetova joined Danish wildcard and former number one Caroline Wozniacki in the second round. Wozniacki overcame rival and fellow veteran, Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in an epic two-hour and 40-minute contest, 6-3 4-6 7-5.