Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter gave British tennis a pre-Wimbledon lift with morale-boosting wins at Eastbourne yesterday.
Raducanu was in rollicking form on her debut at the Rothesay International, where she dispatched fellow former US Open champion Sloane Stephens 6-4 6-0.
It came just days after the 21-year-old declared she had fallen back in love with tennis, and she showed flashes of her powerful best in the resounding win.
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“It was a very close first set and I was down quite a bit all the way through and managed to break,” she said.
“But it’s very difficult because Sloane is super athletic and, in the first set especially, she was making a lot of balls and counter punching really well. It took a lot to try and hit through her but I managed to figure it out in the second set.”
Raducanu has made an encouraging start to the grass court season, reaching the semi-finals of the Rothesay Open in Nottingham earlier this month.
And she will be among the leading British hopes for a run at Wimbledon next week, despite relying on a wild card to reach the main singles draw.
Boulter, meanwhile, also won in straight sets to reach the second round in Eastbourne as she targets more success on grass.
The British No1 rubber-stamped that status by winning her third WTA title in Nottingham, beating Raducanu along the way.
On Tuesday she saw off former world No14 Petra Martic 6-1, 7-6 (10-8), coming from 5-1 behind in the second-set tie-break.
“That was a little stressful, a little bit more dramatic than I hoped it would be. I’m just very happy to be through that,” said Boulter.
“I know Petra very well. I lost to her on these courts last year. It’s a little bit of deja vu but this time I got the winning end, so I’m happy.”
There was less encouraging news for Britain’s men as Cameron Norrie’s woeful run of form continued in Eastbourne.
Former British No1 Norrie lost 7-6 (11-9) 6-3 to Emil Ruusuvuori, his fifth defeat in his last six matches.
Meanwhile Andy Murray faces an uphill battle to be fit for Wimbledon, where he was widely expected to make a farewell appearance at his home Grand Slam.
The 37-year-old had back surgery at the weekend and, while he hasn’t given up hope of competing, appears unlikely to win his race against time.