British No. 1 Emma Raducanu, playing at Roland-Garros for the first time, was handed a tricky first round when drawn against last year’s junior champion Linda Noskova. The 17-year-old Czech played with a confidence beyond her years, but despite taking the first set against the No. 12 seed, Raducanu battled back to win 6-7(4) 7-5 6-1.
Emma Raducanu opened her French Open account with a hard-fought comeback victory over junior champion Linda Noskova.
Entering her first French Open as the No. 12 seed, Raducanu was taken the distance by 17-year-old Noskova, who posed a tricky-first round opponent having won the girls’ singles at Roland-Garros last year.
Noskova had come through three qualifiers to make the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time, and the Czech evidently took that momentum with her when winning a first-set tiebreak 7-4.
She twice went a break up in the second set as well, but Raducanu rallied to force the decider in what was proving to be a marathon match – a tribute of sorts to the absent Andy Murray as British tennis fans watched the nation’s newest star play out a rollercoaster on the Grand Slam stage.
Raducanu is only 19 but her superior experience seemingly made the difference, with the US Open champion breaking early in the third set before completing the 6-7(4) 7-5 6-1 victory after more than two-and-a-half hours on court.
The British No. 1 faces world No. 47 Aliaksandra Sasnovich next.
