Emma Raducanu put any pre-match injury concerns behind her as she overcame Danka Kovinic on a windy afternoon in Indian Wells.
The Brit star appeared on court with her left hand strapped up but didn’t let it impact her as she came through 6-2, 6-3, in one hour 20 minutes against the Montenegrin. The 20-year-old had earlier revealed the injury troubles of last year had returned ahead of her first appearance on a tennis court since the Australian Open.
It was a tentative start from Raducanu as she gave up her first service game to trail 2-0 and many may have feared for her chances as a lack of matches, her recovery from tonsillitis and her wrist caught up with her. But she raced back into the match as she reeled off the next six games to win the opening set as Kovinic’s forehand deserted her amid truly blustery on-court conditions.
Kovinic had hit 18 unforced errors in the opening set but she stopped the bleeding at the start of the second as she held serve. There was now a better shape and more depth to her game and she repeated the tale of the first set by breaking Raducanu early, putting it away with a blistering backhand winner down the line.
But just like the first set, Raducanu dug in, immediately breaking back and consolidating it with a hold to level at 2-2. It was threatening to turn into a carbon copy of the first set as the former US Open champion broke again with some smart tennis to put her in full control of the match at 4-2.
The quality of tennis was at its highest at this point in the match and the pair exchanged service games to give Raducanu a 5-3 lead and within touching distance of just her third win of the year. And she wrapped up the match in fine style to progress to round two on Stadium 1 in the Californian desert.
Up next, Raducanu will face the 20th-seeded Magda Linette who had a bye in the first round and had time to prepare for former world no. 10.
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