Emma Raducanu wins first match on clay in the Billie Jean King Cup

Emma Raducanu levelED the score between Great Britain and the Czech Republic in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifier with a 7-5 7-5 win over Martincova.

Emma Raducanu entered her first clay conteST with a lot of pressure as the Brit struggled a lot this year on the courts. She also had to deliver for her nation as the first match was easily won by the Czech Republic and many wondered how she would handle it. Two games in, it looked good, very good. She did not look uncomfortable on the surface and she had a 2-0 lead.

Martincova took some time to get started and the Czech player battled back to make it 2-2 and players traded service games. Raducanu looked better and better as the match went on but missed a few balls late in the set to give Martincova the 5-4 lead. She had a set point at 40-30 but lost that game. It was the start of a run by Emma who won the first set with 7-5.

She battled all set long and find her groove late to win the set. Raducanu did not carry that momentum into the 2nd set as she fell behind 0-3 early struggling to move as well as early on with many errors as well. At 4-1, Raducanu seemed on the ropes as Martincova was controlling the match however things shifted. Finding some inspiration and some stellar play the Brit battled back all the way to 5-4.

Similar to the first set the Brit continued to battle and battle and ultimately she found a chance at 6-5 with her first match point. A mistake by Martincova sealed the deal for the Brit.