Emma Raducanu has made a profitable begin to summer time on exhausting courts in Washington but it surely did not come simple since Elise Mertens put up a a lot larger struggle than was the case of their Wimbledon match earlier this month.
Raducanu, who entered a WTA 500 event in Washington as a wildcard, edged No. 8 seed Mertens 6-2 3-6 6-4 in simply lower than two and a half hours of play.
After simply profitable the primary set, issues began getting difficult for Raducanu and she or he was drawn right into a three-setter – the place she additionally skilled ups and downs however finally managed to complete on prime.
25 days earlier, Raducanu had a a lot simpler job in opposition to Mertens when she dismantled the Belgian 6-1 6-2 at Wimbledon.
Now, Raducanu awaits the winner of the match between Peyton Stearns and Clervie Ngounoue to be taught who can be her round-of-16 opponent.
How Raducanu beat Mertens?
Early within the first set, Raducanu blew an early break however made up for it after clinching back-to-back breaks within the fifth and seventh video games to nonetheless routinely win the opener.
At the beginning of the second set, Raducanu had her probabilities however she missed out on a break level within the third recreation and she or he was punished for that by Mertens, who broke the Briton within the sixth recreation earlier than serving out for the set three video games later.
After dropping the second set, Raducanu began the determined with an early break and a 3-1 lead however allowed Mertens to get again and tie the third set to 3 video games apiece.
Then, Raducanu saved 5 break factors within the seventh recreation – broke Mertens within the following recreation for a 5-3 lead – however then didn’t serve out for the match within the ninth recreation.
Nevertheless, Raducanu nonetheless managed to get a win after breaking Mertens within the tenth recreation – the sport by which the Belgian was serving to remain within the match.
