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Tennis
Emma Raducanu recovers from poor start to progress at Australian Open
Emma Raducanu recovered from a poor start to see off Mananchaya Sawangkaew in the opening round of the Australian Open.
Defeat to diminutive Thai debutante Sawangkaew would have been the worst grand slam result of Raducanu’s career but in the end she eased to a comfortable 6-4 6-1 victory under the lights on Margaret Court Arena.
The result ended a perfect first day for British players, with Cameron Norrie and qualifier Arthur Fery both making the second round in the men’s singles.
Raducanu, who will next meet Russian Anastasia Potapova, said: “I feel very happy to have got through that match. From the beginning I felt like she was playing really well. I’m really proud of how I fought back in the first set.”
Raducanu once again had a rushed build-up for the tournament because of injury, only returning to the court in late December because of a foot problem that had lingered since the end of last season.
Her preparations for this contest, meanwhile, were hampered by a delayed flight from the tournament in Hobart, where she reached the quarter-finals earlier this week, and Australian Open organisers handing her a Sunday start.
Raducanu was left distinctly unimpressed, particularly by being scheduled second in the night session after a men’s match, but Alexander Bublik’s swift win over Jenson Brooksby meant she was not faced with playing into the small hours.
She also had an unfamiliar opponent in front of her in the shape of 23-year-old Sawangkaew, who is ranked a lowly 196 but began the year by winning a title on home soil in Thailand.
Raducanu certainly looked less than comfortable in the early stages with her movement lacking sharpness, and she may well have lost the opening set had Sawangkaew taken one of two chances to go a double break up at 1-3.
But the 28th seed found some inspiration when she needed it and worked her way into the contest, levelling at 4-4 and then breaking her opponent again to take the opening set.
The former US Open champion was urging herself on, and it did not take her long to assume complete control of the second set, a backhand pass knifed down the line helping her to hold serve for 3-0.
Much stiffer tests await, including Potapova next and potentially Aryna Sabalenka in the third round, but there were encouraging signs in the way Raducanu found a greater weight of shot, and she clinched her first match point with an ace.
