Emma Raducanu fought back tears after resuming her Wimbledon preparations by battling back from a set down to beat the US’s Ann Li in the first round of the Eastbourne Open.
Amid blustery conditions, the British No 1, who missed last week’s Berlin Open as she managed a back problem, triumphed 6-7 (5), 6-3, 6-1.
Raducanu has been struggling with the issue since competing in Strasbourg before the French Open and took an off-court medical timeout during her quarter-final loss at Queen’s Club this month. But, aside from a slip and fall on the grass in set one, she appeared to come through her opening examination at Devonshire Park unscathed.
Victory over the world No 64 Li in two hours and 18 minutes sets up a second-round match with the 19-year-old Australian Maya Joint, who knocked out the two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur on Monday.
The seventh seed Raducanu produced an emotional response after sealing her progress with a fine backhand winner.
“It feels incredible. I want to thank the crowd for getting me through some really sticky moments,” the former US Open champion said in her on-court interview. “It really meant a lot to me and I’m really proud of how I fought back after losing the first set. I’m very, very happy to come through that.
“It was tough, it was up and down, but from the middle of the second set I think I found another gear and another level.”
Earlier, Harriet Dart had two match points on serve but slipped to an agonising defeat to the reigning Wimbledon champion, Barbora Krejcikova. After two suspensions of play in the opening set due to wet weather, Dart moved to the verge of one of the greatest wins of her career.
But Krejcikova, who defeated Jasmine Paolini in last year’s Wimbledon final, survived a first-round shock by hitting back to progress 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-5 in two hours and 40 minutes.
The second seed will face another Briton in round two following Jodie Burrage’s 6-3, 6-2 win over Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.
Dart did little to hide her frustration at failing to capitalise on the pair of match-clinching opportunities against the 2021 French Open champion, letting out a piercing scream as the following game slipped away.
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The 28-year-old has only twice defeated opponents with a higher ranking than Krejcikova’s current status of world No 17.
She upset Daria Kasatkina, who was then ranked ninth, in the first round of the 2022 US Open before beating the world No 13 Paula Badosa later that year at the Billie Jean King Cup.
Dart said: “Some crazy, crazy conditions today. I was pretty close. I missed a ball on match point and then she played a really good point on my other match point and then she becomes a bit freer. It was a tough match overall.
“My level was 10 times better than I’ve played the last two weeks. For me that’s more important, especially going to Wimbledon. Of course, I’d like to have won today. But I was also playing a very experienced, multiple grand slam winner.”
In the first round of the men’s draw, the British qualifier George Loffhagen lost 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (1) to the American Reilly Opelka.
