Emma Raducanu delivered another outstanding performance in Malaga as she ousted Slovakia’s Viktoria Hrunckova 6-4 6-4 to give Great Britain an early 1-0 lead in their semifinal tie at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
Throughout the match, it was the 2021 US Open champion who was in control of things. However, it should be noted that the Briton had some issues with closing out the first and two sets – but ultimately managed to do so.
During the match, Raducanu fired eight aces, 13 aces, and also converted four of her five break points.
Now, Katie Boulter will have a chance to seal Great Britain’s victory and a final ticket when she meets Rebecca Sramkova in the following rubber.
How Raducanu overcame Hruncakova?
After breaking the world No. 238 in the very first game of the match, the British tennis star also saved three break points in the next game to go 2-0 up. In the fifth game, the former world No. 10 earned another break and went up to take what looked like a very comfortable 5-1 lead.
But then, Raducanu’s game became a bit tight – Hruncakova started playing more aggressively – and the Slovak responded by winning three games in a row.
However, the 22-year-old was able to refocus and close out for the first set in the 10th game with the help of a couple of big serves.
Unlike in the first set, Hruncakova didn’t fell behind early after the routinely held on to her opening two service games.
But just when it started to seem that there wasn’t much separating the two, Raducanu upped her level again and claimed back-to-back breaks to win four games in a row and open a 5-2 lead.
Then just as it happened in the first set, the Briton failed to serve out for the set in her first attempt but did so when doing it for the second time.