Emma Raducanu acknowledged that she didn’t really want to win via a retirement but added that she’s glad to be into the Portoroz round-of-16. On Monday, Raducanu had a 6-2 5-3 lead before Yastremska retired due to an injury.
Also, Raducanu was just two points away from winning the match when Yastremska decided to retire due to a wrist injury, After the match, Raducanu didn’t want to criticize Yastremska as she described her as “an extremely ferocious competitor.”
“Nobody wants to win due to a retirement,” Raducanu said, per Eurosport. “Dayana is an extremely ferocious competitor. So I knew it was going to be a tough match going in. I’m really happy with the way that I stayed in the points and was fighting the whole way through.
So I’m happy to be into the next round”.
Raducanu wins her first match since the US Open
Yastremska served out the opening game of the match before Raducanu claimed back-to-back breaks and won four games in a row to take a 4-1 lead.
Down by two breaks in the first set, Yastremska refused to quit as she got one break back in the sixth game. But Yastremska continued to struggle on her serve as Raducanu broke again in the seventh game for a 5-2 lead. In the eighth game, Raducanu routinely served out for the first set.
After winning the first set, Raducanu earned the first break of the second set in the third game to open a 2-1 lead. Yastremska had a chance to get the break back in the fourth game, but missed out on two break points as Raducanu took a 3-1 lead.
In the eighth game, Yastremska missed out on one more break points as Raducanu opened a 5-3 lead, just before the Ukrainian retired the match. Raducanu plays next the winner of the match between Elizabeth Mandlik or Anna-Lena Friedsam. It remains to be seen how far can Raducanu go in her Portoroz debut.
