2 years ago
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Emma Raducanu only made her senior debut on clay last week, when she was being taught how to slide on clay using a medicine ballEmma Raducanu won back-to-back matches for the first time in 2022 to set up a quarter-final meeting with world number one Iga Swiatek in Stuttgart.
British number one Raducanu dug deep to win 6-0 2-6 6-1 against Germany's Tamara Korpatsch, who is ranked 118th.
Raducanu, playing in her first WTA clay-court event, won 24 of the 31 points in a 23-minute first set.
A contrasting second set saw Korpatsch improve but Raducanu recovered in the decider and faces Poland's Swiatek.
The pair will meet on Friday for the first time at tour level.
"Iga is in great form and it will be an interesting match. I feel like I have no pressure going out there on clay and playing against her," said Raducanu, who is ranked 12th in the world.
"There are no expectations on me in the match-up but I'm looking forward to seeing what happens."
US Open champion Raducanu had never played a senior match on clay until last weekend's Billie Jean King Cup qualifier in Prague, saying she has been "very happy" with her progress on the surface.
The 19-year-old moved well in a one-sided first set against Korpatsch, hitting the ball cleanly and making just three unforced errors.
A quick victory looked likely until the complexion of the match changed when Korpatsch earned an early break in the second set.
Suddenly the German had more belief in her groundstrokes and caused problems for Raducanu, whose returns became more wild as she handed over a double break to her opponent for 5-2.
But she reset quickly at the start of the deciding set, attacking Korpatsch's serve and breaking twice more to seal victory.
Now Raducanu will face a sharp rise in class when she faces 20-year-old Swiatek.
Swiatek has made an incredible start to the 2022 season, winning three consecutive WTA 1000 events in Doha, Indian Wells and Miami.
The 2020 French Open champion extended her winning streak to 20 matches - and 26 sets in a row - after beating German qualifier Eva Lys in the Stuttgart second round.
Earlier this month, Swiatek took over from the recently retired Ashleigh Barty at the top of the WTA rankings.
English (US)