… as Brit continues to build form

Emma Raducanu has progressed into the quarter-finals of the Korea Open with a composed and hard-fought victory against China’s Yue Yuan, despite needing a medical timeout for an apparent foot issue.

The British No. 2 produced a brilliant serving display including 11 aces to triumph 6-4 6-3, but it was rarely easy against the eighth seed, who is ranked 30 places above Raducanu in the WTA Tour rankings.

It was a tense and physical encounter with both players requiring some treatment in the first set and at times struggling to hold serve, including Raducanu in the penultimate game of the match as she saw six match points go begging.

But she regrouped immediately after being broken to close out the match in Yuan’s next service game, as the eighth seed couldn’t replicate her run to the final last year.

Raducanu had endured a herculean, nearly three-hour first-round tussle against American Peyton Stearns and this promised to be another physical battle in the hot and humid Korean capital.

Yuan, the eighth seed, has been a force to be reckoned with on hard courts, winning 18 of her 22 matches on the surface this year with a combination of powerful serving and precise shotmaking.

But her serve was under pressure throughout the opening set, starting from the very first game as Raducanu fought to deuce. Yuan went on to hold but that game set the tone for the rest of the first set as a close, physical battle between two hard hitters unfolded. Both players struggled on serve, with the majority of games going to deuce, and the two traded early breaks.

Raducanu’s powerful, accurate serving saw her move up a gear, holding easily for 4-4 and targeting Yuan’s forehand throughout the set. Now the British number two, Raducanu was aggressive from the outset, stepping forward to pile the pressure on Yuan’s weaker second serve.

That pressure began to reap rewards: Yuan overcooked a routine lob for 30-30 on her serve, before launching another shot long to set up a breakpoint for the Brit. A stunning cross-court winner sealed the break.

With an hour on the clock, it was Yuan who blinked first, firing a shot wide to put the Brit one set up.

It was Raducanu who seized the momentum early in the second set, snatching a break in Yuan’s first service game.

Raducanu continued to serve well, firing down a trio of aces en route to holding love for a 2-0 lead in the most straightforward game of the match so far. Six games in a row went the Brit’s way as she stormed to 3-0 up, digging in and forcing Yuan into errors to gift her another break. Again she stepped forward to take Yuan’s second serve early, heaping pressure on her opponent and attacking every ball.

But the eighth seed continued to threaten and she broke back for 3-1, rediscovering some of her early precision and power to stay within touching distance, and it was Raducanu who began to leak errors with Yuan motoring to a love hold.

The second set continued to prove fiercely competitive. A down-the-line winner for Yuan brought up another break point but two huge aces and a winner from Raducanu dug the Brit out of trouble at 3-2 and ensured she stayed a step ahead.

After battling to hold her serve Raducanu was clearly in no mood to hang around. Her aggressive return suffocated Yuan’s tentative second serve and she broke to 15 to re-establish her double break lead and move 5-2 up, giving her the chance to serve for a place in the quarter-finals.

The next game proved a marathon. A couple of shots strayed long and Yuan refused to go down without a fight, dragging Raducanu to deuce. Five match points came and went as the Chinese player produced some of her best tennis staring down the barrel of defeat. Raducanu continued to trust her shots and play aggressively, saving three break points, but an ill-timed double fault gifted Yuan a fourth and this time the world number 40 made no mistake, seizing her chance with another down-the-line winner.

The Brit will next play the winner of top seed Daria Kasatkina and American Hailey Baptiste.