Qatar Tribune

Raducanu ‘very happy’ with showing after beating Kostyuk in Madrid

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The 19-year-old has built on that in the Spanish capital, winning 11 of the last 12 games to see off Tereza Martincova in the opening round after a poor start and then racing to a 6-2 6-1 success against fellow teenager Kostyuk.

EMMA Raducanu produced her best performanc­e since the US Open to surge past Marta

ostyuk and into the third round of the Madrid Open on Sunday.

Having managed backto-back victories at an event just once in the seven months following her New York triumph, Briton Raducanu has now done it twice in as many weeks.

A fortunate draw helped in Stuttgart before she produced a very creditable performanc­e in defeat by world number one Iga Swiatek in the quarterfin­als.

The 19-year-old has built on that in the Spanish capital, winning 11 of the last 12 games to see off Tereza Martincova in the opening round after a poor start and then racing to a 6-2 6-1 success against fellow teenager ostyuk.

Speaking on court, Raducanu said “I’m definitely very happy with my performanc­e today. Marta is a great opponent, we played several times in the juniors and then once last year.

“I knew it was always going to be a really tough battle so I went out there trying to be really aggressive and it definitely paid off.”

The pair are almost the same age but Ukrainian ostyuk, who has spoken extensivel­y about the effect the war in her homeland has had on her, has been playing on the main tour since she was 15 while Raducanu prioritise­d her school work and has been a full-time profession­al for less than a year.

They played in Romania last October, with Raducanu affected by illness and ostyuk winning by an identical scoreline, but here the British player began on the front foot and did not let up.

Everything was working, in particular her forehand and serve, with Raducanu dropping just six points on her own delivery during the match.

The ninth seed will next face another Ukrainian in Anhelina alinina, who was a surprising­ly one-sided winner over home star Garbine Muguruza.

 ?? ?? Emma Raducanu qualifies into the third round of the Madrid Open
Emma Raducanu qualifies into the third round of the Madrid Open

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