Emma Raducanu +20 in WTA Rankings as impressive win sets up Eastbourne blockbuster

Emma Raducanu produced one of her most impressive displays this season to defeat Sloane Stephens in straight sets at the Rothesay International in Eastbourne.

The 21-year-old downed world No 45 Stephens 6-4, 6-0 in the opening round of the WTA 500 tournament on Tuesday to continue her positive grass-court campaign.

Raducanu twice came from a break down to win a tight opening set against Stephens, who is a former US Open champion, like Raducanu.

The British wildcard then lost just six of the 31 points played in the second set as she bagelled the 31-year-old American to seal a convincing triumph.

Raducanu will face another American, the world No 5 Jessica Pegula , in an intriguing second round encounter that will be played on Wednesday. It will be the pair’s second meeting, with Pegula winning the first 7-5, 6-4 in Cincinnati in 2022.

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Pegula received a first round bye as she is the second seed in Eastbourne and she will enter the match in great form, having won the Berlin Open WTA 500 event last week.

Raducanu has returned to the top 150 in the live WTA Rankings after her victory, with the 60 points she earned moving her up to 148th. The former world No 10 started the week ranked 168th, and she could climb as high as 135th if she beats Pegula.

The 21-year-old is looking to become just the second Brit to win the title in Eastbourne after Virginia Wade in 1975 — the second year it was held. Victory at the WTA 500 tournament could see Raducanu rise as high as 68th in the WTA Rankings.

In her on-court interview after beating Stephens, Raducanu was asked what changed in the second set of the match.

“Yeah, I mean I think for me, it was a case of adapting to the court. I’ve never played in Eastbourne,” she said.

“I’ve never played on this centre court and every court plays a little bit differently. And I think that in the beginning, I was just trying to figure out which is the best way for me to play and use my game.

“I think it was a very close first set and I was down quite a bit all the way through and managed to break, but it’s very difficult because Sloane is super athletic and in the first set especially, she was making a lot of balls and just counter-punching really well.

“So yeah, it took a lot to try and hit though her, but I managed to figure it out in the second set.”

Raducanu also looked ahead to her next match: “I think the case is just recovering. I think I managed to figure out a little bit on how to play on these courts.

“The balls get pretty heavy here, so it’s a case of trying to hit through, keep the ball speed up. And it’s just about recovering physically and getting ready to go tomorrow.”

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