“I Feel Like Home Here!”- Emma Raducanu on Her First Win After US Open 2021 Triumph

After quite a disappointing show at the Indian Wells Masters 2021, Emma Raducanu recently played her first match at the Transylvania Open 2021 and somehow survived a tough match there. She defeated Polona Hercog in three sets and advanced to the second round of the tournament. The final scoreline of the match was 4-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Polona Hercog didn’t look quite comfortable during the last two sets. She gave away some easy points and was absolutely clueless in the deciding set of the match.

Emma Raducanu speaks in Romanian during her post-match interview

Interestingly, Raducanu gave her post-match interview in Romanian. Her grandmother lives in Romania and thus, she has a good command over the language. Ever her tennis idol, Simona Halep, hails from Romania.

“I feel like home here!” said Raducanu in Romanian after winning the match against Hercog.

Surprisingly, it is the British player’s first triumph since the US Open 2021. What made it even more special was that it came in Romania after she survived a tough match.

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Set-1: Polona Hercog stuns Emma Raducanu

Raducanu began the set on a really high note. Serving first, she won the first game quite easily, broke in the very next game, and then won her following service game as well to establish a 3-0 lead over Hercog. The Slovenian player played some good shots and somehow pulled the scoreline back to 4-2.

After this, she didn’t allow Raducanu to take the moment. She broke in the seventh game and then again in the ninth game and was now leading 5-4.

Serving for the set, Hercog finished it off quickly and won the set, 6-4 in 48 minutes. Interestingly, she won five consecutive games in the set and made a brilliant comeback after she was 1-4 down at one stage.

Set-2: Raducanu makes an incredible comeback

Serving first, Raducanu once again got off to a great start as she won the first set. However, Hercog equalized the scoreline at 1-1 in the very next game. The same story continued in the following two sets as well and the scoreline reached 2-2.

The one who served continued to win till the tenth game. Thus, the scoreline soon became 5-5. Even though Hercog gained a break-point in the eleventh game, she failed to capitalize on it, and Raducanu won the game shortly after it.

The British star finally broke in the 12th game and thus, won the set, 7-5 after 65 minutes.

Set-3: Raducanu takes away the decider

Just like the first two sets, Raducanu won the first game in the third set as well. Intriguingly, she broke in the second game and was now leading 2-0.

The 18-year-old extended her lead to 3-0 at the end of the third set and was now looking in quite a dominant position. She carried forward her momentum and broke yet again to take her lead to 4-0.

It was as if the British star wanted to end it quickly as she bagged four straight points to make the scoreline 5-0 soon. She was unstoppable and ended the set shortly- losing just a single game. As a result, she conquered the set 6-0, and thus, won the match.

Also Read: “Lot of Pressure on Her”: Tennis Legend Weighs in on ‘Inexperienced’ Emma Raducanu’s Chances in Romania