Emma Raducanu continued her impressive form on clay by surging past former world No 8 Daria Kasatkina at the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
Raducanu, supported by her new coach Mark Petchey, moved beautifully and dictated the Russian-turned-Australian to complete a confident 6-1 6-3 victory at the WTA 500 tournament, her final event before the French Open, which begins on Sunday.
The British No 2 secured three consecutive victories at the Italian Open last week and she maintained her momentum against a player she had failed to defeat in their three previous encounters.
Raducanu made a searing start by breaking her opponent in the opening game of the match and, despite being broken straight back, the 22-year-old proceeded to reel off the next five games to take the first set in just 29 minutes on the clay courts of Strasbourg.
Raducanu found it anything but straightforward so close to the winning line, spurning her first two match points due to a crisp Kasatkina return then a netted backhand slice.
Kasatkina once again stepped up to save a third match point before Raducanu finally managed to get over the line at the fourth time of trying in a second set which featured seven breaks in eight games.
Raducanu, who took a wild card for the tournament having not initially intended to compete, will next face American Danielle Collins, who beat compatriot Sofia Kenin in three sets.
Raducanu: I’m building my relationship with the surface
Former British No 1 Mark Petchey is currently helping guide Raducanu
“I’m really proud of my performance. How I came out and I was really aggressive,” Raducanu reflected.
“I also managed to maintain my focus in the second set when it was getting close and Daria was playing some great points when I was trying to serve the match out so I’m really proud of today’s performance.
“I think I’ve been building towards this. It’s a great feeling because I think I had three great matches in Rome and the fourth I played an opponent who was better than me on the day [Coco Gauff]. To kind of bring that level here, I’m really proud. But I think as I spend more time on clay I’m starting to like it more and more. I’m building my relationship with the surface.”
What did Raducanu do well?
Raducanu continued her momentum on clay ahead of the French Open
The 22-year-old won every single type of exchange against an opponent who is currently ranked No 17 in the world. Raducanu played mature tennis, using plenty of variety, bringing in the slice, moving well and using the drop shot to illustrate how confident she is right now.
Raducanu looks like she is in a good place under the guidance of Andy Murray’s former coach Petchey and long-time ally Jane O’Donoghue. She’s playing some of the best tennis for many years, particularly on the clay where she is still finding her feet.
Tale of the Tape
Fearnley through in Geneva
Jacob Fearnley claimed a straight-sets victory against wildcard Dusan Lajovic in the opening round of the Gonet Geneva Open.
The Briton won 6-4 6-1 to earn his place in the second round of the competition, where he will face fifth seed Alexei Popyrin.
A close first set saw four successive breaks of serve take place in the opening games, but both players managed to hold before Lajovic had his serve broken in the ninth game and Fearnley then held to snatch victory.
Fearnley broke Lajovic’s serve in the third game of the second set and a dominant display saw him comfortably win four successive games to secure his spot in the next round.
In the Bitpanda Hamburg Open, Andrey Rublev recorded a 6-4 6-3 win following a tight encounter with Damir Dzumhur.
The third seed edged ahead in the opening set after breaking in the final game of the contest and Rublev withstood further pressure from Dzumhur in the second set to reach the second round of the competition.
World No 3 Alexander Zverev overcame a scare as he was made to battle for a 6-1 7-6 (5) victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic.
The German breezed through the opening set and, although he took a 4-1 lead in the second, some stubborn resistance from qualifier Kovacevic took the contest to a tie-break, which Zverev won to reach the last 16.
Boulter wins title in Paris
British No 1 Katie Boulter beat Chloe Paquet to claim her first clay court title at the WTA 125 Trophée Clarins on Sunday.
Boulter – who only won her first tour match on clay in Madrid last month – captured her first title on the surface thanks to a comeback victory 3-6 6-2 6-3.
The title win sees Boulter retain her status as the top-ranked British women’s singles player, moving up two spots to world No 38.
The 28-year-old will make only her second main draw appearance at Roland Garros this year.
Dart knocked out of French Open qualifying
Harriet Dart was knocked out in the first round of French Open qualifying after being beaten 6-1 6-2 by Ukraine’s Anastasiia Sobolieva.
A dominant Sobolieva broke the Briton’s serve twice in the opening set as she wrapped it up in 28 minutes.
Dart was broken twice more at the start of the second set before responding with a break of her own, but Sobolieva continued to impress and closed out a comfortable victory.
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