'Super happy': Tennis fans erupt over bizarre Emma Raducanu feat
Emma Raducanu has finally won her first match at WTA level, advancing to the second round of the Transylvania Open.
The British phenom may have made the fourth round at Wimbledon and won the US Open, but she'd never actually recorded a win at WTA level until Tuesday.
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In her second match since her stunning New York triumph last month, the 18-year-old came from behind to oust World No.124 Polona Hercog 4-6 7-5 6-1 in Cluj.
It means Raducanu is finally able to rid herself of the anomaly of being a grand slam champion without a win on the WTA Tour.
The World No.23 registered her first Tour victory at her fourth WTA tournament after opening round losses in Nottingham, San Diego and Indian Wells.
"It feels like a huge win, it is my first WTA Tour win which makes me very happy," Raducanu said.
"It was difficult for me but I feel to win my first WTA match does mean a lot because I was on a losing streak, so I got my first one.
"I am really pleased to have come through that today."
Fans were also delighted that the 18-year-old could get the unusual monkey off her back.
Well done Emma👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
— HuckleberryFriend (@Ajinomoto62) October 26, 2021
Congrats, Emma. Fought back and won. Well done. That'll do her confidence the world of good.
— Pure Football (@NightWriter365) October 26, 2021
Huge congrats on your win so nice to see that smile back good luck for round two and hope you get to enjoy some down time in Romania 🍾😄😄🍾🇷🇴🇷🇴🇬🇧🇨🇳
— David White (@delt4sure) October 26, 2021
Good win for Emma congrats on her first victory in WTA main tour! Hereog sadly this is story of her career. She plays the top players tough yet usually crumbles under the pressure and loses. A lot of talent Hercog but not the mind of a winner.
— OrvilleLloydDouglas🇨🇦🏳️🌈 (@OrvilleLloyd) October 26, 2021
Excellent performance Emma, especially in the 3rd set!
Finishing it off like she did in the Final of the @usopen with a huge serve out wide! #transylvaniaopen #romania #emmaraducanu 🙌 pic.twitter.com/NO3yVkey1g— Giuseppe (@MrGMDelgado) October 26, 2021
Still unbelievable that you won a Grand Slam before your first WTA match. Congratulations on doing it the unusual way around!
— Chris (@ct29041) October 26, 2021
Yes, great reaction. First WTA win!!. Very proud of how you fought today. Many times, being able to overcome these situations gives you more positive things than winning in straight sets. These kind of matches will allow you to grow faster mentally and physically. Let's go!!!
— Manuel García García (@manugarci2008) October 26, 2021
Congrats, Emma!
Such a great match! pic.twitter.com/lUNfIPZWMK— Peter Tvermoes (@PTvermoes) October 26, 2021
Emma Raducanu's stunning comeback for maiden win
Raducanu announced herself on the grandest stage when she claimed the Flushing Meadows title as a qualifier last month, but the Briton then lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in straight sets at Indian Wells recently.
Still without a coach after parting ways with former Davis Cup player Andrew Richardson and having skipped the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, Raducanu had sought to temper the expectations but showed her class in a difficult match.
She surrendered the opening set tamely after being 4-1 up before showing glimpses of the fighting character that marked her maiden major success to draw level at one-set apiece.
With the momentum going her way, Raducanu roared to 5-0 in the deciding set, winning 77 per cent of her first serve points to close out the victory.
Raducanu will next take on home favourite Ana Bogdan.
No.1 seed Simona Halep - who departed at the quarter-final stage of the Kremlin Cup last week - plays her first game on home turf on Wednesday against Elena-Gabriele Rusa and could meet Raducanu in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Romania's Jaqueline Cristian booked a second round clash with Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic after a marathon 3-6 7-6 (10-8) 7-6 (7-3) win over Slovenia's Kaja Juvan.
Sixth seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine cruised past American Bernarda Pera 6-3 6-4 to secure her last 16 berth.
with AAP
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