Emma Raducanu Reacts to Late Opponent Change After Winning First US Open Match
Emma Raducanu continues to relish her second taste of life at a Grand Slam without any pressure after she eased into the second round of the US Open with a straight-sets victory over Stefanie Vogele.
The teenager followed up her remarkable run to the last 16 at Wimbledon in July with another impressive display at a major to beat an opponent 13 years her senior by a 6-2 6-3 score.
Raducanu hit 24 winners during her one hour and 18 minutes on Court 17 to continue her rapid rise, having only sat A-Level exams at the beginning of the summer.
Emma Raducanu defeated Stefanie Vogele in straight sets to advance to the second round of the US Open
She said: ‘I feel like I am learning so much, being around these players and hitting with them, I feel like I am absorbing it all, so I don’t feel any pressure. It is all a free swing and bonus for me because I don’t have anything to lose.
‘Still everything is so new to me and I just love New York, the buzz and everything. Walking around the city is such an amazing experience. I am just enjoying it and I want to stay here as long as possible so I will keep fighting.’
The Briton showed few nerves early on but had to recover from being broken in her second service game on her main draw debut at Flushing Meadows.
Yet it only seemed to spark the 18-year-old into life and she reeled off 12 of the next 13 points to clinch the opening set in 27 minutes, with one backhand winner in particular a highlight.
Raducanu continued to be dominating as temperatures hit 29 degrees and while she was again broken early into the second set, she regrouped and eventually sealed a spot in the last 64 at the seventh time of asking against an opponent who replaced 13th seed Jennifer Brady a day before the first-round tie.
‘I was very up for my match against Brady, we were at the Louis Armstrong Stadium and I was looking forward to being on the big stage again,’ the world number 150 insisted.