Indian Wells: Resurgent Raducanu reaches third round, defeats Linette

Emma Raducanu beat Pole Magda Linette, the No 20 seed, 7-6 (3), 6-2 to advance to the third round of Indian Wells at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on Saturday.

Raducanu, ranked No 77, will play the winner of the match between Czech Katerina Siniakova and Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia, the No 13 seed, next.

Raducanu won against Montenegrin Danka Kovinic (6-2, 6-3) in the previous round of the Indian Wells tournament – and has now won both of her matches against Linette.

It was a competitive first set, with Linette moving the ball around well, and Raducanu seeming to struggle with a wrist injury, calling the trainer at 6-5 in the first set when she was about to serve for it, taking some medication although she did not receive a time-out.

I’m really just cherishing every time I get to step out on the match court

Emma Raducanu

The former US Open champion played a fine tiebreak and was much the better player in the second set, using her forehand brilliantly and leaving Linette helpless.

This was the first time since Seoul in September that Raducanu has won back-to-back-matches on tour and also marked her best win by ranking since her historic 2021 US Open triumph.

“This tournament I had so little practice in the last few weeks, that really playing the matches has been a bonus and a win,” Radacanu said in the press later. “I’m enjoying competing again. I think this feeling of competition definitely beats being sick or injured or out. So I’m really just cherishing every time I get to step out on the match court. Because of the amount of the setbacks I have had and the amount of time I have spent off the court in the past 18 months, I think you definitely appreciate it more when you’re able to be on the court. Obviously I had a couple in a row, so I’m just really pleased to be out on the court.”

Indian Wells WTA 1000, other second-round results (Indian Wells Tennis Garden, hard, USD 8.800.000, most recent results first):

• Sorana Cirstea vs. Madison Keys
• Nuria Parrizas Diaz vs. Paula Badosa
• Ons Jabeur vs. Magdalena Frech
• Peyton Stearns vs. Bianca Andreescu
• Elena Rybakina vs. Sofia Kenin
• Tatjana Maria vs. Daria Kasatkina
• Martina Trevisan vs. Madison Brengle
• Dalma Galfi vs. Caroline Garcia
• Leylah Fernandez vs. Emma Navarro
• Iga Swiatek vs. Claire Liu
• Liudmila Samsonova vs. Bernarda Pera: saturday
• Katerina Siniakova vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia: saturday
• Varvara Gracheva (Q) beat Petra Martic (25): 6-3, 6-2
• Karolina Muchova vs. Victoria Azarenka: saturday
• Marketa Vondrousova beat Marie Bouzkova (28): 6-1, 6-1
• Linda Noskova beat Amanda Anisimova (31): 7-6 (6), 6-3
• Jessica Pegula (3) beat Camila Giorgi: 3-6, 6-1, 6-2
• Karolina Pliskova (17) beat Anna Kalinskaya: 2-6, 6-0, 6-4
• Xinyu Wang beat Ekaterina Alexandrova (18): 6-2, 6-3
• Coco Gauff (6) beat Cristina Bucsa (Q): 6-2, 6-4
• Maria Sakkari (7) beat Shelby Rogers: 2-6, 6-4, 6-0
• Rebecca Peterson beat Shuai Zhang (22): 3-0 ret.
• Anastasia Potapova (26) beat Xiyu Wang: 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2
• Petra Kvitova (15) beat Elizabeth Mandlik (WC): 6-1, 7-5
• Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Evgeniya Rodina: 6-2, 6-0
• Barbora Krejcikova (16) beat Dayana Yastremska (WC): 6-1, 6-2
• Veronika Kudermetova (11) beat Anna Blinkova: 6-3, 6-4
• Lesia Tsurenko (Q) beat Donna Vekic (29): 2-6, 6-2, 6-2
• Jil Teichmann beat Belinda Bencic (9): 3-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Jelena Ostapenko (24) beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich: 7-5, 3-6, 6-2
• Anhelina Kalinina (27) beat Linda Fruhvirtova: 4-6, 6-4, 7-5