Raducanu bounces back to punch ticket for Stuttgart quarter-finals
Sports
Emma Raducanu defeated Tamara Korpatsch 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 at the WTA Stuttgart tournament.
STUTTGART (AFP) - US Open champion Emma Raducanu had to fight back in her second round tie on Thursday to set up a quarter-final match against world number one Iga Swiatek at the WTA Stuttgart tournament.
Raducanu, 19, whitewashed German lucky loser Tamara Korpatsch, who has a world ranking of 118th, in the first set, but was broken twice in the second before regaining her composure to seal a 6-0, 2-6, 6-2 win.
The 12th-ranked British teenager punched the air after converting her second match point.
In Friday s quarter-final she can expect another tough battle against 2020 French Open champion Swiatek, who is on a 20-match winning streak on the WTA tour.
"She s in good form, it ll be an interesting match," Raducanu said of Swiatek.
"She s the world number one, so I don t feel any pressure and am looking forward to it."
On the other side of the draw, Spain s Paula Badosa will play Tunisia s Ons Jabeur, who is through to her fifth clay quarter-final on the tour.
Earlier, Liudmila Samsonova showed plenty of grit to beat former Stuttgart champion Karolina Pliskova.
From 4-3 down in the first set, Samsonova won five straight games and never looked back to seal a 6-4, 6-4 win.
In her quarter-final, she will play against Germany s Laura Siegemund, who is competing in Stuttgart on a wild card after knee surgery.
