Emma Raducanu beat Sloane Stephens 6-4 6-0 in the battle between former US Open champions to reach the second round at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne.
Raducanu came back from one break down twice in the first set to improve to 2-0 in his head-to-head matches.
Raducanu sets up a second round match against last week’s Berlin champion Jessica Pegula.
Pegula won their first head-to-head match on hard court at Cincinnati 2022.
Raducanu reached the semifinal in Nottingham two weeks ago after skipping the clay season.
Stephens earned the first break of the match in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead, but she was not able to hold serve for the rest of the match.
Raducanu saved two break points to hold serve for 5-4 before breaking serve for the third time to close out the first set 6-4. The 2021 US Open champion broke three times to take a bagel win in the second set.
“I think for me it was the case of adapting to the court. I have never played on the Centre Court and every court plays a little bit differently. I was trying to figure out what was the best way for me the best way to play and use my game. I think especially here in Eastbourne, maybe because the courts are fresh and new, it is slower than Nottingham, for example. I think me coming here, I really needed to adjust, because it dies on the courts and it gets very heavy, even after one or two games compared to the other tournaments’ three or four”, said Raducanu.
