By Rory Carroll
INDIAN WELLS, Ca. (Reuters) – Emma Raducanu rallied from a break down in both sets to beat Danka Kovinic 6-2 6-3 at Indian Wells on Thursday and get revenge on the Montenegrin who beat her at the 2022 Australian Open.
No one was quite sure what to expect from the 20-year-old Briton coming into the WTA 1000 tournament in the Southern California desert, even whether she would actually take the court.
The wrist injury that forced her to shut down her season early last year has reportedly been flaring up again and after she withdrew from a pre-tournament exhibition event, it appeared she might not compete at all.
But she walked on to the sun-soaked showpiece court to a loud ovation and after going 2-0 down, began to find the range with her forehand and sealed the 33-minute first set with a second service ace.
The story repeated in the second set where she again fell behind 2-0 before recovering to advance to the second round, where she will face Poland’s Magda Linette.
“I’m happy I stuck in,” Raducanu said in an on-court interview.
“Being a break down is difficult of course but I think mentally I just took it a point at a time.”
She said she relished playing on what she called one of her favorite courts.
“I’m just so happy to have got through and hopefully play another match in front of you guys,” she said.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll, editing by Ed Osmond)
