MATCH REPORT | 2024 ASB Classic: Epic Emma RADUCANU back in business with comeback win over Ruse, Elina SVITOLINA awaits

A first tennis match in 259 days and victory for Emma Raducanu at the ASB Classic in Auckland. The former US Open champion was superb at points and showed little signs of rust in seeing off a tough operator in Elena-Gabriela Ruse 6-3, 4-6, 7-5.

Raducanu though did show some rust though in closing out the match having four match points after initially surging towards the finishing line in the final set but that is understandable given the fact she has not played in just under a year. An intriguing battle now awaits as she will now face Elina Svitolina who took down Caroline Wozniacki earlier today and was the hope from the draw that Raducanu would face one of the duo in the second round. Overall though a successful return.

To begin the clash, Raducanu was superb as she took the only break of the match to seal the opening set 6-3 and move into the lead and potentially could've had a life-line in the second as Ruse double faulted on 0-40 when serving for the set. But Raducanu was wasteful.

She wasted the chance to get back on terms and quickly lost her serve and with that basically the set as Ruse found a way to seal it 6-4. Raducanu secured a double break in the deciding set. But there were too many unforced errors off the racquet of the Brit as she spurned two games in a row including in serving for the set and was set to go the distance if she couldn't seal it at 5-4.

She couldn't seal it spurning multiple match points as Ruse erased the deficit and was serving to go 6-5 up and one away from the match herself. But Raducanu survived and took a break back when Ruse looked to be in the ascendancy and was serving for the match for a third time. She went 30-0 down again to Ruse and spurned another match point as it went to deuce.