New Delhi: Emma Raducanu overcame her serving woes to earn a hard-fought victory against 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round of the Australian Open 2025 on Tuesday, January 14. Raducanu made as many as 15 double faults in the match but ended up surviving in the end to make a winning start to her campaign in the first Grand Slam of the year.
Raducanu looked rusty and undercooked on her first Grand Slam appearance of the season after skipping her first scheduled tournament in Auckland, New Zealand due to a back spasm. The 22-year-old looked completely out of sorts and had little control over her serves in her opening-round clash against Alexandrova.
There were multiple double faults from the 2021 US Open champion throughout the game but she managed to battle through the odds to come out on top and survive to see another day in the tournament. Raducanu is bidding to qualify for the third round of the Australian Open for the first time in her career having not gone past the second round in her 4 appearances in the tournament so far.
“I’m very proud of how I fought and how I overcame certain situations in that match,” Raducanu said after the match as she reflected on her gritty display in the game.
Opening up on her wayward second serve which often resulted in double faults, Raducanu came up with an interesting analogy as she wondered what changed in her serve during the game from what she practised ahead of the tournament. “Honestly, I’m not sure what I changed in my serve today. I think it had a mind of its own,” said Raducanu.
Elena Rybakina beats Emerson Jones in 53 minutes to reach 2nd round
Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina made a dominant start to her campaign at the Australian Open with a stunning victory against Australian teenager Emerson Jones in the first round. Rybakina wrapped up a 6-1, 6-1 victory in just 53 minutes to progress to the next round of the tournament. Rybakina looked in control right from the start to finish as she gave Jones little chance of making things difficult for her in the game.
Emma Raducanu survived a scare to beat Russian 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-2) in the first round of the Australian Open 2025 on Tuesday. Tennis Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
