6 hours ago
9
Emma Raducanu's return to the WTA Tour began with a hard-fought win over Dutch opponent Suzan Lamens in the Madrid Open first round.
The British number two, playing competitively for the first time in almost a month, ground out a 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 victory on the clay.
Raducanu trailed by a break in each set before instantly recovering and edged the bigger points to secure victory.
"I know I had to play really well to win and although it wasn't always my best, I got stuck in at the right moments," Raducanu said.
"I'm proud of how I competed. It is a strength of mine when I can use it."
Raducanu took a "physical and mental" break from competitive action after reaching the Miami Open quarter-finals last month, instead opting for a 10-day training block in Los Angeles.
The world number 49 spent the time there working with Mark Petchey, who is coaching her on an informal basis and was watching as she beat Lamens in her first clay-court appearance of the season.
Raducanu, 22, will play Ukrainian 24th seed Marta Kostyuk in the second round.
Fellow Britons Sonay Kartal and Francesca Jones play their first-round matches later on Wednesday.
The Madrid Open is a WTA 1000 event - the rung of tournaments below the Grand Slams - and one of the most important in the build-up to next month's French Open.
During her Miami run, Raducanu spoke regularly about showing "resilience" to win matches and needed to demonstrate that quality again in her first clay-court match in a year.
Lamens, ranked 73rd in the world, is a combative player who has improved sharply over the past year and is more than comfortable on the surface.
Earlier this month, she beat British number one Katie Boulter in the Billie Jean King Cup tie that Raducanu missed to "rest" her body after a packed start to the season.
Raducanu was often unable to cope with Lamens' baseline power in the opening set but recovered from a break down - and saved three more break points in the ninth game - to drag her opponent into a tie-break.
Another measure of Raducanu's improved resilience has been her impressive recent record in these situations - and showed it again.
While she was also helped by Lamens' errors, Raducanu maintained her composure to take her tie-break record to 6-1 this year.
Petchey was sat in her box alongside Raducanu's long-time ally Jane O'Donoghue, regularly offering praise and encouragement at crucial junctures.
Raducanu played more aggressively in the second set but also had to dig deep as Lamens tried to pin her back behind the baseline.
There were flashes of brilliance from the Briton, too.
A running forehand down the line and another thunderous winner piled on the pressure as Lamens tried to hold serve in a lengthy seventh game, with double faults aiding Raducanu as she eventually broke.
However, it was not a straightforward path to victory. Raducanu shakily lost serve for 4-4 before a frustrated Lamens wobbled again and allowed the Briton to secure another confidence-boosting victory.
