Emma Raducanu recorded already her second win at the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals, and this one was even more impressive than her first one.
After previously spending almost two months away from the tennis courts, the British star returned to action at the 2024 Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Malaga, Spain.
Trying to help her country lift the trophy that they never won, despite playing the Billie Jean King Cup 61 times, she already started in Great Britain's first tie at the tournament against Germany.
Raducanu easily bested Jule Niemeier, 6-4, 6-4, to give her country the first point, and Katie Boulter's thrashing win over Laura Siegemund, 6-1, 6-2, secured their spot in the quarter-finals.
Their quarter-final opponent, however, is one of the hardest they could be drawn against, even though the ranking of the players competing might not indicate it.
Canada won the Billie Jean King Cup Finals last year, mostly thanks to an incredible performance from Leylah Fernandez, and as defending champions, they had a first-round BYE this year, starting in the quarter-finals of the event.
In the first match of the tie, Raducanu took on Rebecca Marino, currently ranked 103rd on the WTA Tour. For the Canadian, this was her 10th tie in the Billie Jean King Cup, despite being nominated 13 times, but her singles record isn't very impressive, standing at 4-7 before this match.
Raducanu, on the other hand, who was born in Canada, played only her fourth tie, but her win-loss record at the competition is very positive, as it showed 4-1 before she took on Marino.
The difference in quality was palpable from the first rally, as the British player got off to a very strong start. She broke her opponent's serve and easily held to lead 2-0.
She then repeated the same scenario one more time, leading already 4-0, and after doing it for the third consecutive time, Raducanu destroyed her opponent in the first set 6-0.
She converted three out of the eight break points that she had, and the British player also won 100% of points after her first serve, only losing two points on her serve in the entire set.
Although Raducanu couldn't replicate the same serving performance in the second set, and her opponent stepped up as well, she was still the better player on the court.
Marino hit five aces in the second set, and she won 77% of points after her first serve. On top of that, she started returning much better, and that yielded plenty of results for her.
The Canadian player had three break points in the fourth game of the second set, but she couldn't use any. She then had four more break points in the eighth game but, once again, ended up empty-handed.
She certainly remembered each one of those seven missed chances to break only a few games later, as in the eleventh game, Raducanu had her only chance to break in the set, and she used it.
The British player then held serve in the final game of the match, recording an impressive 6-0, 7-5 win to give Great Britain a 1-0 lead over Canada. Her compatriot, Katie Boulter, will now try to secure the country's second point against Leylah Fernandez. If she fails to do that, a doubles match will decide the tie.
0 Comments