Emma Raducanu battled through a scrappy opening round match against American Peyton Stearns to secure her spot in the last 16 of the Korea Open.
A bizarre contest featuring 12 breaks of serve, 16 double faults, and an astonishing 110 unforced errors, eventually went the way of Britain’s Emma Raducanu.
After two hours and 43 minutes she wrapped up a win against Peyton Stearns 7-6 (4), 7-6 (5), in Seoul to set up a round of 16 match against Chinese eighth seed Yue Yuan on Thursday.
It was in fact Raducanu’s first win since beating Stearns at the Washington Open at the end of July, where she eventually reached the quarter-finals.
The Brit could only extend her poor run at the US Open with defeat to Sofia Kenin in round one, with Raducanu still yet to register a win at Flushing since her 2021 title winning run.
After Raducanu faced criticism after not playing the US Open qualifying events, this dogged win in Korea may at least subside the cynics for now.
Emma Raducanu reflects on ‘tough’ conditions after defeating Peyton Stearns
Raducanu certainly didn’t have it all her own way and should probably take very few positives away from the match.
With her serve inconsistent and 50 unforced errors flying off the Brit’s racquet, the grit she showed to stay in it was the only commendable quality shown.
After the match, she spoke to Sky Sports court-side reflecting on the hard-fought win. “I’m proud to have made it through to the next round,” the Brit said after holding her nerve to make it through the second set tie-break.
“It was tough. It was very humid, the ball was bouncing around a lot, and 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.”
Having made the semi-finals last year, Raducanu was quick to thank the crowd for their support: “I love to play in Seoul and I actually think it gave me some fuel to fight in that match to play again in front of you guys.”
Emma Raducanu must copy Jack Draper and seize this opportunity
The 21-year-old has been handed a real lifeline in South Korea after the likes of Iga Swiatek and Jessica Pegula pulled out of the tournament.
With such a depleted field with no top 10 players, Daria Kasatkina took the top seeding.
As compatriot Jack Draper took his chance with both hands at the US Open after Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit, Raducanu must try to do the same.
The 21-year-old is set for a busy end to the year, with Raducanu set to play for Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup squad in November, after helping her team to an unlikely victory against France in April.
She was given a lifeline today with the amount of errors struck, however with a win under her belt, perhaps things will only go up for Raducanu.
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