Emma Raducanu demonstrated her impressive skills as she secured her place in the WTA Tour quarter-final on grass at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham by defeating Ukraine’s Daria Snigur. Despite the challenging weather conditions, the former US Open champion claimed victory with a remarkable score of 6-2 6-2 and utilized her 11 aces to great effect.
In her previous match against Ena Shibahara, Raducanu had expressed frustration over the line calls, and similar disputes arose during her encounter with Snigur, leading to overrules and evident dissatisfaction from both players. Initially struggling to find her rhythm and timing, Raducanu found herself at a disadvantage when her opponent, 22-year-old Snigur, took an early 2-0 lead. Nevertheless, the determined Raducanu swiftly recovered from the setback, securing a crucial break and successfully holding her serve in the subsequent game. With an impressive turnaround, she impressively clinched six consecutive games to claim the first set before breaking Snigur’s serve once more in the third game of the second set. Though facing a challenging moment where she had to save two break points, Raducanu’s resilience and skill shone through as she managed to break her opponent’s serve once again before ultimately securing victory in just an hour and 19 minutes.
Reflecting on her hard-fought win, Raducanu commented, “It was an extremely tricky match. I knew from before I came on I needed to be on it today because Daria is a really good player and grass-court player especially. I’m very, very happy with how I managed it, especially in the beginning, and came through.”
With her next potential opponent being her good friend Francesca Jones, Raducanu’s impressive performance in the quarter-final promises an exciting match-up for tennis enthusiasts and fans alike.