Emma Raducanu beat world No. 118 Tamara Korpatsch 6-0 2-6 6-1 at the Stuttgart Open. Lucky loser Korpatsch enjoyed an upset win against Camila Giorgi in round one to register a first WTA 500 win and forced the Brit to dig in to make the quarters. The win means Raducanu will face world No. 1 Iga Swiatek next after the Polish star beat Eva Lys 6-1- 6-1 earlier on Thursday.
US Open winner Emma Raducanu produced a battling performance to beat Tamara Korpatsch 6-0 2-6 6-1 at the Stuttgart Open.
The world No. 12 secured a 23-minute bagel in the first set as she looked on course to make light work of her German opponent, but Korpatsch fought back to send the second-round match to a decider. Raducanu would dig in to re-establish control in the third set to progress in one hour and 42 minutes.
World No. 118 Korpatsch secured a career-first WTA 500 win when she upset world No. 30 Camila Giorgi in round one, but was unable to apply any pressure to Raducanu during the first set. The 19-year-old Raducanu found her range early on the slightly faster indoor conditions in Stuttgart and claimed the first set in a breakneck 23 minutes.
And when Raducanu held to love in the first game of the second set, it meant that Korpatsch had won just seven of the 34 points on offer, and the ignominy of a double bagel looked a distinct possibility.
However, a first ace of the contest in the next for Korpatsch set the tone as the 26-year-old German got on the board, and then backed that up with an immediate break of serve. A more relaxed Korpatsch would seal another break in the seventh game of the set to send the match to a deciding set – it was the seventh time in her 11 matches this season that Raducanu has gone the distance.
Korpatsch’s second-set success was built on the transformation of her forehand, which had looked brittle in the first half an hour of the contest, but then became a formidable weapon. However, a tactical tweak from Raducanu – hitting the ball a little fuller – allowed the Brit to regain the initiative to race into a three-game lead in the deciding set.
She would eventually see the set out 6-1 to make the third round.
The win moves Raducanu to a record of five wins and six losses from 11 outings this season, and she will face world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals on Friday.
