‘Proud’ Emma Raducanu beats excessive heat and Peyton Stearns to kickstart Korea Open campaign
Emma Raducanu expressed delight at beating Peyton Stearns in hot and humid conditions to kickstart her Korea Open campaign.
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Emma Raducanu (Image via Imago)
Emma Raducanu has not had the best of seasons so far, struggling to put together a meaningful run when she isn’t injured. That said, she has always stayed positive and fought through her lows, and showed that fighting spirit at the Korea Open.
Raduncau entered the US Open with a lot of expectations, having won the title in 2021 to become the first qualifier in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles title. However, she could not get past Sofia Kenin and made a first-round exit following a 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 defeat.
Raduncau entered the Asian swing hoping to put together a good run before the season came to an end. And in Seoul on Tuesday (September 17), she dug deep to beat Peyton Stearns the hard way. After the win, the Brit expressed satisfaction with the positive result against a tough opponent and also acknowledged the tough conditions that made the contest even more difficult.
I'm proud to have made it through to the next round. Thank you to everyone for sticking around and watching us. That 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, you know, she's a really good player and in really good form. So, yeah, I'm pretty pleased.Emma Raducanu said in her on-court interview
It was so hot and humid in the South Korean capital that the play was delayed by 45 minutes due to excessive heat. Raducanu and Stearns went toe-to-toe throughout the match, which was eventually clinched in straight sets by the former British No. 1 in two hours and 43 minutes.
Emma Raducanu thanks fans for helping her beat Peyton Stearns, will face Yuan Yue in second round
Emma Raducanu‘s win against World No. 49 Peyton Stearns is her sixth win against Top 50 opposition in of her last seven matches. The 21-year-old, who was a semifinalist in 2022, will face last year’s runner-up Yuan Yue in the second round.
In her on-court interview after the win, Raducanu thanked the fans for pushing her to beat Stearns on a day when the conditions were not kind to both players. She also expressed love for the tournament and regretted not competing last year.
I just want to say thank you very much. I need to improve my Korean. I really like playing… I really love playing here in Seoul and I missed it last year, but it's one of the tournaments that I really want to 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 said
Incidentally, it is now the second-longest straight-sets match this year, after Sara Sorribes Tormo and Victoria Azarenka‘s two-hour 50-minute third-round clash in Madrid. The former won that match 7-6(0), 6-3 before falling to Iga Swiatek in the following round.
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Anirudh Velamuri
(58 Articles Published)