Britain’s Emma Raducanu was made to battle long and hard to get past Peyton Stearns in her opening Korea Open match in Seoul on Tuesday.
I really love playing here in Seoul, and I missed it last year, but one of the tournaments that I really want come back to and I, actually, think it gave me some fuel to fight in that match, just so I can play another match in front of you guys. Emma Raducanu
The 2021 US Open champion, ranked 70th in the world, had to dig deep to beat the 48th-ranked American, 7-6(4) 7-6(5), in steamy conditions after a 2 hour 43 minute gruelling contest.
“I’m proud to have made it through to the next round,” said the 21-year-old, who is unseeded. “Thank you to everyone for sticking around and watching us. It was tough, it was very humid, the balls were bouncing around a lot.
“It was a tough match to get through. I haven’t played many matches in the last few months, and Peyton is a really good player in really good form, so I’m pretty pleased.”
The former World No 10 was playing her first match since her devastating US Open 1st-round loss to Sofia Kenin that left her in tears, and confessing that she felt ‘down’.
Raducanu blew a break early in the match on Tuesday, but responded with back-to-back breaks to open what seemed like a comfortable 4-1 lead, only to drop the next 4 games before going up again, 6-5.
With a chance to serve out for the first set, the Brit missed out on 2 set points and the American managed to force matters into a tiebreak.
After squandering multiple chances to seal the opener, Raducanu also found herself 1-3 down in the breaker, but impressively won the next 5 points to take a 6-3 lead, before finally converting her 4th set point to take it after 74 gruelling minutes.
At the start of the second, she missed some more chances, but also saved a couple of break points before getting the first break of the set in the 8th game for a 5-3 lead, and lined up to serve for the match.
It was then that the real drama began, as the 21-year-old failed to convert the win, and then also lost her serve in the 11th game, allowing Stearns to go 6-5 up with the chance to serve out for a decider.
Raducanu, though, confidently broke back to love to move it into another breaker, where she opened a 3-0 lead, and eventually closed things out on her 2nd match point at 6-5 for a straight-sets win.
It was a very physical match that featured a combined tally of 28 break points, and 12 breaks of serve.
“I really love playing here in Seoul, and I missed it last year, but one of the tournaments that I really want come back to and I, actually, think it gave me some fuel to fight in that match, just so I can play another match in front of you guys,” Raducanu said after the match.
The British No 2 has now won 6 of her last 7 matches against Top 50 opposition.
For a place in the Seoul quarter-final, Raducanu, a semi-finalist here in 2022, next will face last year’s runner-up Yuan Yue, the 8th seed from China, who is ranked 40.
Yuan needed 3 sets to get past Romanian qualifier Elina-Gabriela Ruse on Monday.
Another American, Hailey Baptiste, also made it into the 2nd-round after beating compatriot and former US Open champion Sloane Stephens, 7-6(4) 6-2.
6th seed Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan was upset after a 6-3 7-6(5) loss to America’s Amanda Anisimova after play had been delayed for 45 minutes at the start of the day for excessive heat.
Lucky loser Polina Kudermetova from Russia, who moved into the main draw after Guadalajara champion Magdalena Frech withdrew, toppled Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon, 7-5 6-4, and joins her older sister Veronika in the 2nd-round.
It is only the second time both Kudermetovas have reached round 2 of a WTA tournament following ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2023.
