Emma Raducanu sets up tasty Iga Swiatek match as she goes +6 in rankings with Amanda Anisimova win
Emma Raducanu broke her second-round Australian Open curse as she reached the third round of a hard-court major for the first time since THAT US Open title run.
After seeing off 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the first round at Melbourne Park, Raducanu claimed another straight-set win in the second round, this time getting the better of good friend Amanda Anisimova.
The former Open winner had never made it past the second round of the season-opening hard-court Grand Slam while she also lost her most recent two first-round encounters at Flushing Meadows with her last win dating back to 2021 when she lifted the trophy as a qualifier.
But that unwanted streak is over after her 6-3, 7-5 victory over Anisimova in one hour and 50 minutes.
“It’s incredibly difficult when you play a friend. It adds another dimension to the match,” Raducanu – who wrote “Fourth time lucky” on the camera lens after her win – said.
“It’s difficult to put all things off-court aside. She’s such an amazing opponent. I knew I had to fight hard, raise my game, and not go away in the 2nd set even when the chips were down. I wish her all the best.”
She added: “This is a Slam I love playing at, so to make it past the second round means a lot to me, and I get to play another match. I thought the support was so good, and it was an amazing atmosphere today and in my first-round match.”
Raise her game she did, especially on serve.
Having served 15 double faults against Alexandrova, the 22-year-old was much better on serve in the round of 64 as she only served five double faults with her first-serve percentage sitting at 66%.
But the services games in general were topsy-turvy as Raducanu broke four times in the first set with her American opponent breaking twice.
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Anisimova started the second set with two breaks of serve to race into a 0-3 lead and Raducanu then called for a medical timeout and the trainer gave her treatment on her back.
It seemed to do the trick as the world No 61 hit back with two breaks to draw level at 3-3 only to be broken again. But Raducanu hit back immediately and then held two service games before the decisive break came in game 12.
She was also strong on return, converting eight of her 10 break points compared to Anisimova’s five from 13.
The victory sees Raducanu move up six places in the Live WTA Rankings to No 55, but it doesn’t get easier as she next faces five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek.
The second seed made light of Rebecca Sramkova as she won 6-0, 6-2.
It will be a fourth meeting between Swiatek and Raducanu with the Pole leading their head-to-head 3-0 with two wins coming on clay and one on the hard courts at Indian Wells.
