Emma Raducanu overcame a lengthy medical time-out during a gutsy three-set first-round victory at the French Open to set up a blockbuster meeting with four-time champion Iga Swiatek.
The 22-year-old was leading China’s Wang Xinyu 6-5 in the first set when she called for the doctor, rubbing ice on her cheeks and around her eyes as she had her blood pressure checked.
There were fears that Raducanu, who has had a series of injury and illness issues throughout her career, would have to retire from the match. But after three minutes of treatment she came back on to the court and confidently served out the set to love.
Wang rallied to take the second set but, in front of a big crowd on a cramped Court Eight, Raducanu hit back to complete a gutsy 7-5 4-6 6-3 victory in two hours and 44 minutes – the joint-longest match of her career on clay.
“I think I’m actually really proud of today’s match, more so than a lot of the matches that I played recently or in general, because I woke up and I felt really sick, to be honest,” Raducanu said.
“I felt bad from the morning. I was just trying and fighting through that. It was really difficult.
“You know, in the first set, I just felt it straight away and it didn’t really go away throughout the whole match.
“To have kind of come through that and overcome how I was feeling, I’m really happy with and I didn’t let it kind of, you know…it would have been easy to kind of let it drag me down.
“I don’t know why I’ve struggled today. The last few days, I’ve just not really been feeling great.
“I guess I’m managing a few things. I’m glad I can have some rest and hopefully rest up before playing Wednesday.”
Decisive break turns game in favour of Brit
Raducanu needed a lengthy medical time-out as she came through a marathon match against Wang on a packed Court 8
Prior to the match, Raducanu had admitted the back problem she suffered in Strasbourg last week was was still not 100 per cent right.
The 2021 US champion has had to overcome a phobia of needles to undergo acupuncture in a bid to ease the issue.
Raducanu’s movement did not appear to be hindered by the problem, but her energy levels did seem low.
At the start of the second set, the British No 2 flagged again allowing Wang, who is ranked two places beneath her at 43 in the world, to move 5-1 ahead.
Raducanu dug deep to claw both breaks back, but 23-year-old Wang – a former doubles champion at Roland-Garros – brought up set points on her opponent’s serve and took the second to level the match.
Raducanu disappeared off court briefly at the changeover and upon her return promptly grabbed a decisive break.
She squandered two match points on her own serve but a Wang double-fault in the next game sealed a gruelling win.
Swiatek showdown next…
Ahead of her showdown with Swiatek, who is on a 22-match winning streak at the French Open, Raducanu added: “I feel like Iga’s always played really well when we have played.
“I’m looking forward to kind of going out and playing her again. I think in the last month, I have made good strides with my game and my mentality, as well, big time.
“I think this time, yeah, it’s great. I get another crack at the best in the world and I’m looking forward to playing on a big court probably as well.”
World No 5 Swiatek, who routed Raducanu 6-0 6-1 in just an hour and 10 minutes at the Australian Open, had earlier stretched her winning run at the French Open by beating Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova 6-3 6-3.
‘Raducanu will need energy if she is to upset Swiatek’
Former British No 1 Henman on Raducanu’s victory:
“First rounds are never easy and this was a battle here. It’s been a little bit cold, it’s been breezy. Sometimes you’re not allowed to play your best tennis, you’ve got to fight and I like Emma talking about that character to find a way to get the job done.
“She obviously isn’t feeling her best, she felt low on energy and when you do find a way to get those solutions, you give yourself an opportunity in the next round against Swiatek. There’s less pressure on her so hopefully she can play with that freedom.”
Raducanu will now have 24 hours to recover in time for the lethal Pole on Wednesday which will likely take place on one of the big showcourts.
Henman said: “These events are 15 days now so to come through a match like that, recovery and rest is going to be important. On Tuesday she can make sure she does all the recovery work and perhaps just a light practice because as she said, she’s played a lot of tennis and her game is in good shape. It’s important she goes in with a full tank of energy if she’s going to cause the upset.
“She’s got to be very aggressive and that’s not easy to do on a clay court when it’s slow and heavy and a bit cold but I think she’s just building confidence on the best event on clay, which is not her natural surface but she’s got the win and now she gets an opportunity to see where her game is at against one of the best clay court players in the world.”
World No 68 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro stunned American ninth seed Emma Navarro 6-0 6-1 in 57 minutes to advance to the second-round.
The Spaniard was on the verge of a double bagel but failed to serve out for a 6-0 6-0 win, hitting two double faults.
Former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina overcame a second-set slip to defeat Argentine qualifier Julia Riera 6-1 4-6 6-4. The Kazakh 12th seed will next face American Iva Jovic.
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