Emma Raducanu beats service issues to win Melbourne opener Emma Raducanu overcame serving woes to upset 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and reach the second round of the Australian Open.
Alexandrova, a big ball striker with a relentlessly negative demeanour, broke serve four times in a row but holding her own delivery proved equally challenging, with Raducanu’s return game in good shape.
From there the balance skewed to the negative side and heading into the tie-break she was winning fewer than 10 per cent of points on her second serve, while her double fault count had hit nine, including three in one game at 4-4.
The former US Open champion’s serve is a work in progress and her first two service games saw her produce five aces and four double faults.
The 22-year-old hit 15 double faults but edged an erratic match to post her best win at Melbourne Park, seeing off 31st-ranked Russian Alexandrova 7-6 (4) 7-6 (2).
