Emma Raducanu moves step closer to blockbuster Iga Swiatek clash

Emma Raducanu moved a step closer to a blockbuster meeting with Iga Swiatek, after thrashing Storm Sanders 6-1 6-2 in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. 

Raducanu needed little over an hour to beat the Australian qualifier –– securing her first professional tournament win on clay in dominant fashion. 

“It’s been a good start for me to the clay season,” she said.

“I’m really excited to spend more time on this surface and really happy with my performance.”

The US Open champion hadn’t played a senior match on clay until last weekend’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers against the Czech Republic. 

After beating world number 50 Terez Martincova in her opening match, she lost convincingly to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova as Great Britain failed to reach the finals. 

But this latest performance against Sanders will give the Brit confidence that she can succeed on the surface. 

“It has been difficult to transition to clay. Last week I was being taught how to slide on clay using a medicine ball,” she stressed. 

“To have come this far in the space of a week I am very happy. It is just about being comfortable with the unstable surface underneath.”

Raducanu has struggled with injuries this season and has been hampered by blisters on more than one occasion. 

At the Australian Open, the teenager suffered blisters on her right hand against Danka Kovinic and eventually succumbed to a three-set defeat. 

And in Prague last week, she suffered the same problem on her right foot –– later revealing she was bathing her feet in surgical spirit every day to try and overcome the problem. 

But Raducanu appeared unaffected against Sanders and produced arguably her most complete performance since the final