Emma Raducanu has made a winning start to summer on hard courts in Washington but it didn’t come easy since Elise Mertens put up a much bigger fight than was the case in their Wimbledon match earlier this month.
Raducanu, who entered a WTA 500 tournament in Washington as a wildcard, edged No. 8 seed Mertens 6-2 3-6 6-4 in just less than two and a half hours of play.
After easily winning the first set, things started getting complicated for Raducanu and she was drawn into a three-setter – where she also experienced ups and downs but ultimately managed to finish on top.
25 days earlier, Raducanu had a much easier job against Mertens when she dismantled the Belgian 6-1 6-2 at Wimbledon.
Now, Raducanu awaits the winner of the match between Peyton Stearns and Clervie Ngounoue to learn who will be her round-of-16 opponent.
How Raducanu beat Mertens?
Early in the first set, Raducanu blew an early break but made up for it after clinching back-to-back breaks in the fifth and seventh games to still routinely win the opener.
At the start of the second set, Raducanu had her chances but she missed out on a break point in the third game and she was punished for that by Mertens, who broke the Briton in the…
