R1: RADUCANU, Emma (GBR) 78 def FRUHVIRTOVA, Linda (CZE) 79 4-6 6-4 6-2

R2: RADUCANU, Emma (GBR) 78 (CH=10 2022) v KUZMOVA, Viktoria (SVK) 134 (CH=43 2019)

Emma was struggling to hold on through the first and into the 2nd but then the Emma rollercoaster started and she won 11 games to 2 going 5-0 up in the 3rd. However Linda then started to fight back, breaking Emma to love as she was serving for the match. Linda then saved 3 match points on her own service before Emma managed to close it out in her next service game.

Emma's attacking intent was pretty good, though the execution varied from spectacular to woeful (briefly). I counted 44 winners including a couple of aces, 3 drop shots, 9 return winners, 5 drive volley winners and 4 standard volley winners. Would have liked to see her attack the net after 2nd serve returns but she chose to retreat.

Tight first set. Linda missed very few first serves and Emma's return of the Fruhvirtova first serve wasn't up to much. A pair of unreturned first serves and one forehand winner helped Raducanu save 3 bps with the score at *3-4, then Linda saved 2 bps with an ace and an aggressive forehand but Emma wasted another 2 bps with poor forehand errors long. The set was decided by a woeful service game from Raducanu, 4 gifts, 3 of them backhands immediately after her serve, the final point she went for forehand down the line but missed narrowly.

Emma lost the opening 8 points of the 2nd set (making it a run of 11 points against her); admittedly 6 of the 8 were won by good play from LF. A couple of errors from Linda gave Emma an opening, which she grasped by punishing two 2nd serves, on the bp it took rather more shots than it should have. Emma held then broke again, contributing a drive volley winner and a forehand return winner off a 1st serve. She needed a backhand winner after her serve to save bp at *4-3, then closed out the set with an aggressive backhand crosscourt 6-4.

5 winners from Raducanu as she broke at the start of the 3rd set; 4 of them crosscourt forehands. Emma produced a lucky net cord forehand winner, a drop shot and a forehand down the line as she took 5 points in a row to break again from 40-0. Linda seemed to be in a slump as the score went to *5-0 then started playing ultra aggressively. She broke to love with a series of sensational shots. The Fruhvirtova service game at 5-1* was unreal. Raducanu hit 5 winners, LF 2 aces + 2 winners, mp was saved 3 times by good play. Emma finally got the win after being down 0-30 on serve.

It was windy, lengthy rain delays, the crowd seemed to be into the match. Emma struggled to get her sliced backhand over the net and regularly hit her forehand inches long in the opening set. One impressive defensive sliced forehand crosscourt in the 2nd set. I liked Emma's serving patterns, far fewer passive first serves than usual, though the placement could do with fine-tuning slightly (understandable given 1st match of the season).

A good contest between 2 talented young players. 

the addict wrote:

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Julia Carrot wrote:

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Peter too wrote:

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Emma is due to play after 6am tomorrow morning but the weather looks likely to make outdoor play impossible for several days so they may decide to shift matches indoors to clear some of the backlog.

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 Do you know if there is a precedent for indoor play at this tournament, is there a suitable facility?

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 https://www.tennisauckland.co.nz/asb-tennis-arena/

Looks like there are three indoor courts.

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 Thank you, that's good news I guess.