🔗 Share this article

Emma Raducanu battled through annoying postponements due to rain to overcome Jaqueline Cristian in her first match of the Hana Bank Korea Open.

Their match had been scheduled for the first day of the week but was postponed because of wet conditions, and further poor conditions led to another substantial delay on Wednesday. Finally, Raducanu and Cristian stepped onto the playing surface and the victory went to the British No 1 who came out on top 6-3, 6-4 after a tussle lasting two hours and two minutes.

Raducanu made the debated decision to withdraw from the national squad for this week’s Billie Jean King Cup showdown to instead accept a wildcard in Seoul as she strives to improve her ranking as the season concludes. Speaking ahead of the team’s fixture with Japan, the GB captain labeled Raducanu’s decision not to participate as “regrettable”, but the athlete will feel her choice has paid off if she puts together a strong week.

In her first match after a one-sided loss to the Kazakh star in the third round of the US Open, Raducanu demonstrated her fighting spirit to see off Cristian, who is ranked eight places lower at No 41.

The first-set score masked the complete picture, with the set lasting over an hour and Raducanu saving 11 of 12 break points, recovering from 3-1 down with a run of consecutive points in a row.

Cristian hit substantially more winners but Raducanu, who served multiple serving errors, showed resilience during the second set. She came from behind from a break down to secure victory and earn a next match with the former Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.

“Really pleased to have won today,” commented Raducanu after the match. “It was a challenge, I feel like I’ve played this match the last three days. To come out on top after waiting, I’m super pleased with how I came through. She is a really tough opponent and had great results recently. Difficult circumstances, very slow court, long rallies, drawn-out games, so happy to have advanced.”

Meanwhile, it proved a tough outing for Cameron Norrie, who suffered a shock loss against the 304th-ranked Chinese wildcard Zhou Yi at the Chinese tournament, with the 20-year-old saving a winning opportunity.