Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Emma Raducanu with first sand victory at WTA level
US Open winner Emma Raducanu (WTA No. 12) clearly won her opening match at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Apr 20, 2022, 06:29 pm
In her first participation in Stuttgart, the new Porsche brand ambassador defeated the Australian qualifier Storm Sanders 6:1, 6:2 and put in a strong performance.
Raducanu dominated the match from the start, with healthy aggressiveness and good build-up play on clay.
It is Raducanu's first WTA victory on the red ash - her first tournament of this class on the surface. At the weekend she had already won a match on clay at the Billie Jean King Cup. Previously, Raducanu had only played on hard court or grass at both the WTA and ITF levels.
Raducanu meets Tamara Korpatsch in round 2, who won against Camila Giorgi on Tuesday.
Raducanu: "I gained a lot of confidence at the weekend"
Raducanu said on Monday before the tournament started in Stuttgart that she took a lot of self-confidence with her from her win at the weekend against Tereza Martinzova on sand. "It's going to be an exciting clay court season," she exulted. "I'm not sure how it's going to go. But I tell everyone around me that one day clay will become my surface. And I believe that too."
Now, with her performance, Raducanu has backed those words with deeds.
"I'm very happy, she's already won two matches in qualifying," said Raducanu after the win. As a task for herself on sand, she mainly gave the point structure. "But I'm looking forward to spending more time on clay."
Karolina Pliskova and Iga Swiatek had already won their matches earlier in the afternoon.