Indian Wells: Raducanu shrugs off wrist concerns to win in straight sets, meets Linette next
The former US Open champion defeated Danka Kovinic 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday
The build-up to Emma Raducanu‘s first round match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells on Thursday ahd been all about her wrist injury and physical fitness.
Raducanu, whose had a torrid time with injuries since last year, dismissed some of those concerns with a convincing straight sets win over Montenegrin Danka Kovinic.
The 2021 US Open champion needed only one hour and 22 minutes to win 6-2, 6-3 and advance to the second round in Indian Wells.
This was the 20-year-old’s first match since exiting the Australian Open in the second round stage and improved her record to 3-2 for the year.
Raducanu, ranked No 77, will face next face No 20 seed Magda Linette for a spot in the third round of the WTA 1000 event.
Indian Wells WTA 1000, other first-round matches (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 8,800,000, most recent results first):
- Tatjana Maria beat Jasmine Paolini: 7-5, 6-1
- Varvara Gracheva (Q) beat Ysaline Bonaventure (Q): 6-2, 6-2
- Katerina Siniakova beat Jule Niemeier: 7-5, 6-4
- Dalma Galfi (LL) beat Danielle Collins: 6-4, 6-4
- Bernarda Pera beat Lucia Bronzetti: 7-5, 4-6, 6-3
- Jil Teichmann beat Ashlyn Krueger (Q): 6-1, 6-4
- Anna Kalinskaya beat Alycia Parks: 6-1, 6-1
- Elizabeth Mandlik (WC) beat Alison Riske-Amritraj: 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (1)
- Rebecca Peterson beat Marta Kostyuk: 7-5, 5-7, 7-5
- Camila Giorgi beat Arantxa Rus (Q): 6-3, 6-3
- Lesia Tsurenko (Q) beat Lin Zhu: 6-4, 6-3
- Shelby Rogers beat Katie Volynets (WC): 6-4, 4-6, 6-1
- Xiyu Wang beat Olga Danilovic (Q): 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
- Cristina Bucsa (Q) beat Katie Swan (Q): 7-6 (6), 7-5
- Xinyu Wang beat Elise Mertens: 6-3, 6-1
- Linda Fruhvirtova beat Mayar Sherif: 0-6, 6-2, 6-3
- Dayana Yastremska (WC) beat Anna Bondar: 6-3, 6-4
- Evgeniya Rodina beat Alize Cornet: 6-2, 7-5
- Linda Noskova beat Irina-Camelia Begu: 7-6 (7), 6-1
- Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat Kaia Kanepi: 6-3, 7-6 (5)
- Anna Blinkova beat Ann Li (WC): 6-1, 6-2
- Emma Navarro vs. Catherine McNally
- Maryna Zanevska vs. Lauren Davis
- Sloane Stephens vs. Sofia Kenin
- Claire Liu vs. Anna Karolina Schmiedlova
- Laura Siegemund vs. Madison Brengle
- Rebeka Masarova vs. Peyton Stearns
- Marketa Vondrousova vs. Rebecca Marino
- Nuria Parrizas Diaz vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto
- Yulia Putintseva vs. Karolina Muchova
- Sorana Cirstea vs. Kimberly Birrell