(Reuters) – Former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu said she was proud of her performance as she picked up her first win in 48 days after beating American Peyton Stearns 7-6(4) 7-6(5) in the first round of the Korea Open in Seoul on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old, who faced a first-round exit from the U.S. Open last month, lost four games in a row after taking a 4-1 lead in the first set as Stearns fought back, but was able to prevail in the tiebreak.
Stearns won three games in a row to go from 5-3 down to serve for the second set, but Raducanu broke to force another tiebreak where she won again.
“I’m proud to have made it through to the next round… it was very humid, the ball was bouncing around a lot. It was a tough match to get through,” Raducanu said after the match.
“I haven’t played many matches in the last few months and Peyton, she’s a really good player and on really good form. I’m really pleased.”
Raducanu will play Chinese eighth seed Yuan Yue in the second round.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; editing by Miral Fahmy)
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