"The work is paying off" - Emma Raducanu feeling confident after win over Maria Sakkari at Dubai Tennis Championships
WTA
British tennis star Emma Raducanu put on a clinical performance in her opening round match at the 2025 Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which seems to have filled the fan-favorite with confidence as the tournament progresses.
The 2021 US Open champion defeated former World No.3 Maria Sakkari in straight sets on Monday, recording a 6-4 6-2 victory over the Greek star. This was Raducanu's third victory in as many meetings over Sakkari, with the British star yet to drop a set against her opponent.
Win over Sakkari ends string of losses this season
Prior to competing in Dubai, Raducanu was coming off a four-match losing streak, with her last victory being her second round win over Amanda Anisimova at the 2025 Australian Open a few weeks ago. The last three weeks have featured opening round losses at Singapore, Abu Dhabi, and Doha consecutively, but Raducanu hopes to have put it all behind her following her impressive victory on Monday.
"I don’t think it’s necessarily sunk in yet. I’ve had a long time on the road and taken a few losses, it’s never easy coming back out,” said Raducanu in an interview with The National after her win over Sakkari. “But I’m just really proud I’ve stuck it out and come through that match against a really tough opponent. I had to play really good to beat her.
"That’s one thing that I’m improving, my athleticism. The work is paying off on that side of it. I’m looking forward for the tennis side also coming together and then I feel like I’m building a good big picture."
"That’s one thing that I’m improving, my athleticism. The work is paying off on that side of it. I’m looking forward for the tennis side also coming together and then I feel like I’m building a good big picture."
The World No.61 will face former Roland Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova in the next round, and hopes to carry her momentum into this showdown with the Czech star.
"She’s obviously an amazing opponent and I think, for me, these matches against the top players I’m playing, top 20 players week after week it’s unbelievable exposure,” said Raducanu. “I’ve actually not necessarily played badly the last few weeks, it’s just in big moments they’ve played better than I have and I think right now I’m just enjoying this win.
“Against Karolina, I feel like she’s a lot more experienced than me, had a lot more years on tour, obviously a world-class opponent. I’m just going to go and have a swing really."
“Against Karolina, I feel like she’s a lot more experienced than me, had a lot more years on tour, obviously a world-class opponent. I’m just going to go and have a swing really."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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