Dominant Raducanu advances to second round of Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

DUBAI: Emma Raducanu got her maiden Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships campaign off to the perfect start on Sunday night, defeating former World No. 3 Maria Sakkari of Greece 6-4, 6-2 under the lights on Centre Court.

Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion, is a high-profile wildcard this week as Dubai’s women’s tournament celebrates its landmark 25th anniversary. Making her first appearance in the tournament, she broke her opponent at the first opportunity to take an early lead at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Stadium. Yet Sakkari, ranked 29th in the world and 31 places above her opponent, battled back to level the set in the sixth.

Raducanu arrived in Dubai on a run of four consecutive defeats and three first-round exits. So it was much to her credit that she maintained composure to immediately regain the lead, breaking back without dropping a point.

“I just tried to stay focused on what was in front of me,” Raducanu said. “There was some momentum shared throughout the match and I think when I was broken in the first set, I regrouped really well to break back and was really pleased with how I performed.”

The second set was initially similar to the first as the British No. 2 immediately broke Sakkari’s serve before letting her lead slip once more, this time in the fourth game. But she kept her composure and regained the lead — this time turning the screw to break again and capitalise on Sakkari’s errors to take a 5-2 lead. Serving for the match, she drew cheers from the crowd with a powerful ace down the middle.

“I’m very happy to get through to the next round,” she said. “The support has been great tonight. It’s my first time spending a little bit of time here (in Dubai) and I’ve really enjoyed it. What I love most