Raducanu is feeling grand after opening Aussie win
THE grand slam stage inspired Emma Raducanu once again as she marked her Australian Open debut with victory against Sloane Stephens.
Wins have been hard to come by for the 19-year-old since her extraordinary success in New York in September but, back on the big stage, the Brit found the right formula to claim a 6-0 2-6 6-1 victory.
She lost just four points in a startling first set that admittedly was woeful from Stephens before the American hit her stride in the second.
That set up a first decider at this level for Raducanu and she could not have handled it any better, keeping her cool and striking the ball with confidence to clinch victory after an hour and 45 minutes.
“It meant a lot, for sure,” she said. “It’s my first win in
Australia in a grand slam. I came here when I played the juniors and I lost first round, so to come out here and get my first win, I was very, very happy.”
“I definitely wanted to go out there and start playing aggressively and start putting my game on the court,” said Raducanu, who screamed in delight after the first point.
“I felt that I was actually just really enjoying my time here, especially going out to practise earlier, I had quite a few people watching.
“I think that the crowd that stayed pretty late, we were having a good time. I was feeding off that, for sure.”
Meanwhile, Andy Murray knocked out 21st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1 3-6 6-4 6-7 (5) 6-4.
“This is where I thought I had potentially played my last match three years ago but it is amazing to be back, winning a five-set battle like that. I could not ask for any more,” said the former Wimbledon champion.