Former US Open champion Emma Raducanu has overcome wind and rain in a match which stretched over virtually 4 hours to beat Linda Fruhvirtova 4-6 6-4 6-2 in her first singles encounter of 2023 on the ASB Classic in Auckland.
The match was twice interrupted by rain and the second delay within the deciding set compelled the gamers from the court docket for nearly an hour.
Raducanu returned to take cost of the conflict, instantly breaking the 17-year-old Fruhvirtova for a 2-0 lead and happening to serve for the match at 5-0.
Fruhvirtova broke again for 5-1, then saved 4 match factors on serve in a tenacious try and preserve the match alive.
Raducanu fell behind 0-30 in her subsequent service sport however recovered with a sequence of massive serves.
“I think it’s like four hours later. Honestly, I don’t know what time it is anymore,” Raducanu mentioned.
“What a battle. Linda is such a great young player and it was a different dynamic for me because usually I’m the younger one. Going into this match she is and she’s going to be up there for sure, she already is.”
Raducanu, 20, was taking part in her first aggressive match in two and a half months and needed to combat arduous towards the Czech teenager who received a decent first set in 53 minutes.
Top-seeded American Coco Gauff additionally needed to take care of two prolonged rain delays earlier than beating Germany’s Tatjana Maria 6-4 6-1.
The seventh-ranked Gauff had let slip a 4-0 lead within the first set and Maria was serving at 4-3 when a cloudburst compelled the gamers from the court docket. Play resumed briefly and Gauff improved her result in 5-4 when the second rain break occurred.
Gauff returned to win six straight video games to open a 5-0 lead within the second set earlier than Maria held serve once more. Gauff calmly served out the match for her first win of the 12 months.
“Honestly, like it wasn’t tough because I was expecting (the rain) to happen,” Gauff mentioned. “In between the rain delays I got a bit of help from my coach.
“But I’m from Florida and we’re kinda used to the cease begin, cease begin. It’s the tropical climate.”
Raducanu’s second-round opponent will be Slovakia qualifier Viktoria Kuzmova, who upset fourth-seeded Bernarda Pera 6-4 6-4.
Kuzmova took benefit of a robust first serve to win key factors in a decent contest whereas Pera, the Croatia-born American, struggled in windy circumstances and had 9 double faults.
