Emma Raducanu has revealed how she feels about conditions at the Korea Open after winning her first-round match amid a significant delay in play.
The British number one was supposed to play her opening round on Tuesday, but the match was pushed back to the following day due to poor weather in Seoul.
Raducanu did not let this issue affect her, rallying from a break-down in both sets to defeat Jaqueline Cristian 6-3 6-4.
The Brit, who withdrew from the Billie Jean King Cup Finals to compete in Korea, will face two-time Grand Slam singles champion Barbora Krejcikova in the next round.
Following her victory over Cristian, Raducanu said dealing with the conditions has ‘not been easy.’
Emma Raducanu says the conditions in Korea are ‘tough’
During her on-court interview with Sky Sports, Raducanu noted the difficult conditions in Korea, seemingly referring to both the weather conditions and the conditions on court.
Raducanu said: “Super happy to have won today. It has not been easy.
“I feel like I have played this match over three days, so to have pulled through after waiting, I’m really pleased with how I came through. Jaqueline is a really tough opponent and has had great results recently.
“It’s tough conditions. Very slow, long rallies and long points, so I’m really happy to have got through.”
In the next round, Raducanu will have to be at her very best to defeat Barbora Krejcikova.
The Czech player has struggled with injury in the past year, but has recently shown signs of her Grand Slam title-winning form, most recently reaching the US Open quarter-finals.
The match will be an interesting test for Raducanu, who has never played the Czech star on the WTA Tour.
Raducanu’s serving struggles
Despite winning the match, Emma Raducanu was put under significant pressure by her opponent throughout the contest.
As per Sofascore, Jaqueline Cristian engineered 15 break-point opportunities on the Raducanu serve. Fortunately for the British star, she was able to save 12 of these break-points.
Raducanu also failed to make much of an impact on her second serve, winning just 37 per cent of those points.
On the other hand, Raducanu did manage to win 67 per cent of her first-serve points.
However, Raducanu must improve her serving if she hopes to defeat Barbora Krejcikova in the next round. With all due respect to Jaqueline Cristian, Krejcikova is a better player, and one who will take advantage of any chink in Emma Raducanu’s armour.
