Emma Raducanu played her first match on clay this year, and while it didn't start well, it ended really well for Raducanu and the Brits.
The first match of this Billie Jean King Cup tie between France and Great Britain saw Diane Parry completely outplay Katie Boulter 6-2 6-0 after the Brit took a 2-0 lead, which was very impressive from the French player but also put Raducanu under a lot of pressure to really win this match.
The British player has been practicing on clay for a while now and was really excited about returning to the surface. It's not one that she's too familiar with because she hasn't played too much on it, but she can be dangerous on the red dirt, because she's a tremendous hitter, which matters on clay.
The match, however, was very tricky for Raducanu because she was facing a more experienced player who had beaten her before, and Caroline Garcia was on home soil. French players generally do much better on their home soil, and it was the Billie Jean King Cup, so the atmosphere was on point as well.
The opening set was pretty close, but Raducanu ran into some issues very early. Garcia, for the most part, didn't really have any troubles on her serve, and the pressure ultimately resulted in a break midway through, as the Frenchwoman led 4-2.
From there, it was a rather simple cruise to the finish line as she ended the set, winning it 6-3. The second set opened with an early break for Garcia as well, which was the perfect outcome for her.
However, Raducanu applied more pressure in the second set and got the break back, which made things a little bit more interesting. She immediately added one more break and turned the second set around from losing 0-2 to winning it 6-3.
It was game on, and the 2021 US Open champion handled it perfectly, starting the third set with a break and adding one more a bit later to completely outplay her opponent and win the match 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, which delivered a crucial point for her country.
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