Emma Raducanu ended her recent losing streak with a straight-sets victory over Maria Sakkari at the Dubai Duty Free Championships.
Raducanu had been struggling as she had lost four matches in a row, which is the longest losing streak of her career.
The player recently received a wildcard entry into the Dubai Tennis Championships main draw.
She started the match stronger by breaking Sakkari’s serve early and eventually won 6-4, 6-2, finishing with her third ace to secure he win, as per The Guardian.
After winning the match, the player expressed, “I just tried to stay really focused on the point in front of me.”
The 22-years-old went on to share, “There were some momentum shifts throughout the match and when I got broken twice early in the sets I just regrouped really well and I managed to break back [immediately] both times.”
Raducanu added, “I was really pleased with how I fought and competed against Maria, she’s a top player, been as high as three in the world. I’m just really proud of my performance.”
In February, Raducanu received wildcard entries to compete in Abu Dhabi Open and Qatar Open main draws, but she was eliminated in the first round of both tournaments.
“I think in a way we play quite similar, she’s really athletic. I’m not necessarily going to give all my tactics away, it’s just a very difficult match every time we play so I’m happy to have won on all these occasions in all big tournaments and very happy to get through to the next round,” Raducanu shared.
With this win, Raducanu has now won all three of her matches against Sakkari without dropping a set and will now face Karolina Muchova in the next match.
