Emma Raducanu 'very proud' of Billie Jean King Cup win in 'meaningful' clay debut

Emma Raducanu shared her pride after clinching a crucial point for the Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup team with a 7-5 7-5 win over Tereza Martincova in what was her first-ever clay match and her first BJK Cup tie.

Raducanu has shared the meaning of her first win for the British BJK Cup squad after keeping her team alive in the qualifier tie against the Czech Republic. The 19-year-old defeated world No 50 Martincova in a two-hour and four-minute battle after coming from a double-break down in the second set to get her country to 1-1 following Harriet Dart's loss to Marketa Vondrousova in the first rubber.

Speaking after what was both her professional debut on a clay court and her debut in the team competition, the world US Open champion gushed: "Oh my god, this one means so much to me because it's my first match at Billie Jean King Cup and to represent my team and come out here on a clay court which is my first professional match on clay it's really amazing and we're still in this battle and it's all to play for tomorrow."

The Bromley local also shared her appreciation for her teammates Dart, Katie Swan and Sonay Karthal and captain Anne Keothavong for pushing her on in the match, and admitted it was special to be creating memories in such an individual sport. "Yeah definitely the team had my back 100% as we had Harriet's back this morning and it's amazing to be in a team competition when everything is so individual in this sport so I'm really cherishing the memories that I'm making this week," she continued.

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Raducanu had not played a competitive match on a clay court since the 2018 French Open juniors, where she beat Maria Timofeeva in