Britain’s Emma Raducanu is through to the last 16 of the Korea Open in Seoul after a dogged performance saw her to a 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (7-5) victory over American Peyton Stearns, live on Sky Sports Tennis.
A battle of an opening set saw Raducanu eventually claim it via a tiebreak, having passed up a number of chances to seal it beforehand.
Indeed, the 21-year-old broke Stearns three times en route to a 4-1 advantage, with the chance to move 5-1 up on serve, but then lost the next four games to fall 5-4 behind.
The Brit held and broke again for the chance to serve for the set at 6-5, but from a position of three set points at 40-0, her first serve deserted her to eventually lose the game and enter the tiebreak.
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Raducanu showed brilliant composure to clinch the set 7-4 in the tiebreak, however, and pushed on in the second to force a break and the chance to serve for the match at 5-3.
No match points were forthcoming for Raducanu, though, as Stearns got out to 15-40, and though Raducanu forced deuce, the American was not to be denied the break for 5-4.
From there, Stearns held and broke Raducanu again to bring up the chance to serve for the set and level the match, only for Raducanu to do superbly to break straight back to love and force another tiebreak, taking control from that point on to ultimately confirm victory.
Raducanu will next face China’s Yuan Yue for a place in the quarter-finals after the latter came from behind to beat Romania’s Elena-Gabriela Ruse 4-6 6-2 6-2.
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Tim Henman believes Raducanu’s game is heading in the right direction
What is coming up on Sky Sports Tennis in September?
- Korea Open – WTA 500 (16 to 22 September – with Emma Raducanu in action)
- Thailand Open – WTA 250 (16 to 22 September)
- Chengdu Open – ATP 250 (17 to 24 September)
- Hangzhou Open – ATP 250 (18 to 24 September)
- Japan Open – ATP 500 (25 September to 1 October)
- China Open – ATP 500 (26 September to 2 October)
- China Open – WTA 1000 (25 September to 6 October)
Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, streaming service NOW and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 per cent more live sport this year at no extra cost. Find out more here.