Raducanu eases past Bouzkova in Abu Dhabi, plays Jabeur next

Wildcard Emma Raducanu beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-1 to advance to the second round of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City on Monday evening.

Former US Open champion Raducanu, ranked No 296, will play second seed Ons Jabeur next.

The 20-year-old Briton, who missed the last eight months of 2023 because of foot and hand surgeries, pulled away in the second set.

“She was a very difficult opponent,” Raducanu said, quoted on the WTA Tour website. “Marie is really tough to put the ball away against, she makes so many balls, so I’m really pleased to come through that.

“I took a little bit to get adjusted to the speed of her ball and the court and the conditions playing at night, but I’m really happy with the way I kind of calibrated.”

Abu Dhabi WTA 500, other first-round results (International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City, hard, USD 922.573, most recent results first):

• Lesia Tsurenko vs. Liudmila Samsonova
• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Lucia Bronzetti
• Heather Watson vs. Veronika Kudermetova
• Naomi Osaka vs. Danielle Collins
• Alexandra Eala vs. Magda Linette
• Xinyu Wang vs. Lin Zhu
• Sara Sorribes Tormo vs. Linda Noskova
• Daria Kasatkina (7) beat Diane Parry (Q): 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
• Beatriz Haddad Maia (6) beat Xiyu Wang (WC): 6-2, 7-6 (4)
• Ashlyn Krueger (Q) beat Bernarda Pera (Q): 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
• Sorana Cirstea beat Caroline Garcia: 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4