Emma Raducanu held off number 49 Peyton Stearns 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) in the first round of the Hana Bank Korea Open in Seoul. The match was delayed for 45 minutes due to excessive heat.
The match featured 28 break points and 12 breaks. Raducanu served for both sets but was forced into a tie-break rwice by Stearns. This was the second straight-sets match of 2024 so far following Sara Sorribes Tormo’s 7-6 6-3 win against Victoria Azarenka after 2 hours and 50 minutes in the third round of the Madrid Mutua Open.
Raducanu has scored her first win since beating Stearns in Washington last July. Raducanu improved to 2-0 against Stearns.
Raducanu raced out to a 4-1 40-0 in her first match since a first round defeat to Sofia Kenin at the US Open. After winning 14 of 16 points, Raducanu dropped nine of the next ten points. Stearns pulled both breaks back to draw level to 5-5. Raducanu broke for the fourth time in the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead. Raducanu earned a chance to serve out the first set. Stearns fended off two set points before breaking serve with with a second serve return to force the set to a tie-break after 66 minutes.
Raducanu earned her second mini-break to take a 5-3 lead in the tie-break when Stearns misfired on back-to-back groundstrokes. Raducanu closed out tie-break 7-4.
The second set went on serve in the first seven games. Stearns earned a first break point at 3-3, but Raducanu fended off two break points to hold for 4-3 before breaking Stearns to earn a chance to serve out the set.
Stearns broke back to earn a chance to serve to take the match into a third set, but Raducanu broke back with winners into the opening court to take the match into another tie-break. Both playesr traded mini-breaks four times before Raducanu closed out the win on her second match point.
Raducanu, who won the US will face last year’s finalist Yuan Yue in the next match. The British player has won six of the last seven matches against top 50 opponents.
Hailey Baptiste beat 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens 7-6 (7-4) 6-2.
Stephens earned an early break in the first game and held her service game to take a 2-0 lead. Baptiste broke back in the sixth game to draw level to 3-3. Stephens went up a mini-break twice but Baptiste pulled back on serve both times to draw level to 3-3. Baptiste earned a mini-break to take a 4-3 lead, but Stephens broke straight back. Baptiste won the final two points to seal the tie-break. Baptiste broke twice in the third and seventh games to win the second set 6-2.
Amanda Anisimova upset sixth seeded Yulia Putintseva 6-3 7-6 (7-5). Polina Kudemertova moved into the main draw after last week’s Guadalajara winner Magdalena Frech withdrew from the tournament. Kudemertova beat Australian qualifier Priscilla Horn 7-5 6-4 joining her sister Veronika Kudemertova in the second round. It’s the second time that the Kudemertova sisters have reached the second round of a WTA title for the second titme following s’Hertogenbosh 2023.
