The 2021 US Open champion started the 2022 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart with a solid performance to defeat Storm Sanders.
After losing 6-1, 6-1 to Marketa Vondrousova at the Billie Jean King Cup, many doubted how Emma Raducanu will perform during the clay season, but she proved everyone wrong where she started her 2022 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix campaign dominantly.
The young Brit is the eight-seeded in Stuttgart as she took on qualifier Storm Sanders in the first round. After both players won their opening service games in the first set, Raducanu went on to win seven games in a row to win the first set 6-1 and quickly gain a 2-0 lead in the second.
She hasn't played many matches on the clay courts before, but already early in the match against Sanders, who has plenty of experience, the 2021 US Open champion proved that she can adapt and learn quite quickly.
She continued with a dominant performance in the second set, as she didn't face any breakpoints throughout the set. On the other hand, she added one more break to win the match dominantly 6-1, 6-2 in an hour and 7 minutes.
In the second round, Raducanu will take on lucky loser Tamara Korpatsch, who defeated Camila Giorgi in the first round. It was a real battle between the two, but the home player proved to be better, winning 3-6, 7-6(2), 6-1 in a three-set battle.
If the Brit succeeds in this second-round match, she will then face world number 1, Iga Swiatek, in the quarterfinals as the Polish player demolished yet another opponent.
In the last seven sets that she played, Swiatek lost only three games, and that's a scary-looking stat for Raducanu, who could potentially test her qualities against the leader on the WTA Tour right now.