‘Mature’ Emma Raducanu told what to expect from ‘very solid and very tough’ Sara Sorribes Tormo
“Athletic and mature on court” are two of the superlatives that Eurosport pundit Mats Wilander has used to describe rising British star Emma Raducanu, but she has been warned that her next opponent Sara Sorribes Tormo will be a tough to beat.
The 18-year-old Raducanu has followed up her fairytale run to the fourth round at Wimbledon with another impressive debut campaign at the US Open.
After coming through qualifying, the teenager won her opener with a confident 6-2, 6-3 victory over Swiss veteran Stefanie Voegele and followed it up with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Zhang Shuai from China.
Emma Raducanu’s dizzying rise up the tennis ranks continued with a hugely satisfying victory over Zhang Shuai in the second round of the US Open pic.twitter.com/2i4sVrGtKu
— PA Sport (@pasport) September 3, 2021
Former world No 1 and seven-time Grand Slam winner Wilander rates Raducanu highly.
“Zhang Shuai is a very good player, Emma Raducanu lost to her in her first match after Wimbledon, and then she won easily here,” he told Eurosport.
“Emma Raducanu is the real deal. She is athletic and mature on court.
“She has played three qualifying matches and two main draws, so it is an amazing tournament for her.”
Emma Raducanu closes in on rankings breakthrough as Tim Henman salutes the teenager
Up next is world No 41 Sorribes Tormo, who beat 22nd seed Karolina Muchova in the first round and followed it up with victory over Hsieh Su-wei.
“It is not going to be easy,” Wilander said. “If Emma Raducanu can beat this lady, she is going to have to play some real good tennis, not for one hour, not for one set but for a long period.
“It is an unbelievable opportunity for Raducanu and Sorribes Tormo to play each other and get to the fourth round.
“Sorribes Tormo is as tough as anyone to beat.”
Alex Corretja highlighted some of Sorribes Tormo’s strengths ahead of the third-round encounter.
“Sorribes Tormo is very solid and very tough,” he said. “She is moving much better than before. She has a long swing, and right now she just goes faster and returns closer to the baseline. She has improved her serve as well.
“She has been practicing much more on hard courts, where before she played only on clay. She has realised she had to improve.”
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