Emma Raducanu opened her French Open account with a hard-fought comeback victory over junior champion Linda Noskova.
Entering her first French Open as the No. 12 seed, Raducanu was taken the distance by 17-year-old Noskova, who posed a tricky-first round opponent having won the girls’ singles at Roland-Garros last year.
Noskova had come through three qualifiers to make the main draw of a Grand Slam for the first time, and the Czech evidently took that momentum with her when winning a first-set tiebreak 7-4.
She twice went a break up in the second set as well, but Raducanu rallied to force the decider in what was proving to be a marathon match – a tribute of sorts to the absent Andy Murray as British tennis fans watched the nation’s newest star play out a rollercoaster on the Grand Slam stage.
Raducanu is only 19 but her superior experience seemingly made the difference, with the US Open champion breaking early in the third set before completing the 6-7(4) 7-5 6-1 victory after more than two-and-a-half hours on court.
Raducanu headed into the second Grand Slam of the year with concerns over a back problem, while her decision to split with coach Torben Beltz earlier in the clay swing had also made plenty of headlines.
She downplayed her back issue on the weekend, however, stating she was given the “all-clear to continue” despite withdrawing from her previous match at the Italian Open a fortnight ago.
Raducanu took to Court Simonne-Mathieu after her fellow British No. 1 Cameron Norrie advanced to the second round of the men’s singles at a canter when beating Manuel Guinard in straight sets.
Looking to follow suit, Raducanu got off to the perfect start, breaking Noskova immediately as a double fault from the Czech closed out the opening game.
Raducanu then had three more chances to break in the third game, but Noskova rallied to save them all, with the confidence taken from that helping her break back in the fourth.
In what was evidently going to be a topsy-turvy match, Raducanu broke again as rain soon came down to disrupt both players, but despite slight pauses in play and suggestions it was heavy enough to bring a halt to proceedings, they persevered as the umbrellas came out around them.
Once again, Noskova was able to break back with a fine backhand winner, and she then held to love in the ninth game to lead for the first time in the match.
Raducanu was fist-pumping every winner as it became clear this would be no rollover, and after twice serving to stay in the set, the opener headed to a tiebreak.
A fourth double fault from Noskova gifted Raducanu the early advantage, but an unforced error from the Briton saw that mini-break quickly squandered.
Raducanu sneaked ahead once more, but Noskova was proving more than a match, with a superb forehand winner bringing up two set points for the Czech.
She converted the first as Raducanu could only find the net with a forehand, with Noskova ending the set with 24 winners to her opponent’s 12.
Noskova’s clean hitting continued in the second set, and she swiftly went a break up as Raducanu looked second-best in every department.
A double fault halted Noskova’s rhythm however, and Raducanu worked her way back into the set when benefitting from her opponent’s errors.
Noskova broke to love in the seventh game to lead 4-3, but Raducanu again battled to break back, and was leading 5-4, 0-30 on Noskova’s serve as a chance to level the set opened up.
As light rain started to come down, Noskova won an impressive four points on the spin to make it 5-5, but after Raducanu held again she brought up two set points in the 12th game.
Noskova dug deep to save them both, and though another error gifted Raducanu a third set point, Noskova won a thrilling point with a sublime drop shot to take it to deuce.
In what was proving to be a crucial game, another wayward Noskova shot gave Raducanu a fourth set point, which she managed to convert after a drop shot of her own forced the Czech to go wide.
The clock had passed the two-hour mark towards the tail-end of that second set, and come the decider it proved to be a one-way affair as Raducanu stepped it up.
She was able to break twice without dropping serve, and though it resulted in a routine 35-minute final set, the overall match was anything but – and may well be a challenge Raducanu is grateful for when facing Sasnovich in the second round.
