Emma Raducanu knocking on the door of the WTA Top 10 after notching up another dazzling win in Madrid

WTA Tour
Delight for Emma Raducanu

Emma Raducanu continued her excellent start to her clay-court career as she eased past Marta Kostyuk to reach the third round of the Madrid Open.

The US Open champion struggled during the first few months of the 2022 season, but she seems to have found form on clay as she is now 5-1 on the surface on the WTA Tour and 6-2 if you include her Billie Jean King Cup qualifying matches for Great Britain.

Having brushed aside Tereza Martincova in the first round in the Spanish capital, Raducanu followed it up with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of fellow teenager Kostyuk in just over an hour.

The 19-year-old Brit was quick out of the blocks as she broke in game one and again in game seven before serving it out to love in a 26-minute opening set.

She followed the same script in the second set with an early break in game two and doubled up with a second break to go 4-0 up before the Ukrainian got on the scoreboard with a break of her own in game five.

However, that was the only highlight of the set for Kostyuk as she lost her serve again in the next game and Raducanu went on to serve it out to take their head-to-head to 1-1 following Kostyuk’s win at the Transylvania Open in October.

The win means Raducanu, who will face Anhelina Kalinina for a place in the quarter-final after the Ukrainian upset seventh seed Garbine Muguruza 6-3, 6-0, is now just 101 points off No 10 in the WTA Rankings with the spot currently occupied by Tunisian Ons Jabeur, who faces Belinda Bencic in the third round.

Should Raducanu get the better of Kalinina then she face either Jill Teichmann or 16th seed Elina Rybankina in the last eight. Swiss Teichmann upset 17th seed Leylah Fernandez 6-4, 6-4 while Rybankina was leading 6-0, 1-0 when Katerina Siniakova retired.

Emma Raducanu Jill Teichmann Leylah Fernandez Marta Kostyuk

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