Raducanu delighted with form in Madrid
EMMA RADUCANU produced her best performance since the US Open to surge past Marta Kostyuk and into the third round of the Madrid Open.
Having managed back-toback victories at an event just once in the seven months following her New York triumph, Raducanu has now done it twice in as many weeks.
A fortunate draw helped in Stuttgart before she produced a creditable performance in defeat by world No.1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals.
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.
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 Kostyukhas been playing on the main tour since she was 15 while Raducanu prioritised 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 Kostyuk 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. The ninth seed will face another Ukrainian in Anhelina Kalinina, who was a surprisingly one-sided winner over home star Garbine Muguruza with a 6-3, 6-0 score.
Clay is not normally a happy hunting ground for British players but the altitude of Madrid makes conditions faster and Raducanu’s victory was one of three yesterday.
Twenty-year-old Jack Draper, who is surging up the rankings, claimed his second best win by ranking, taking out world No.27 Lorenzo Sonego 6-4, 6-3, in his first tour-level match on clay.
Sonego has struggled this season and Draper, ranked 124, took full advantage to set up a clash with sixth seed Andrey Rublev.
Dan Evans arrived in Madrid having lost six of his last seven matches but claimed a moraleboosting 6-3, 6-4, success against Argentinian Federico Delbonis.