Emma Raducanu reached her first WTA Tour quarter-final on grass at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham after defeating Ukraine's Daria Snigur.
Emma Raducanu reached her first WTA Tour quarter-final on grass at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham after defeating Ukraine's Daria Snigur.
The former US Open champion produced a solid display in cool, windy conditions to triumph 6-2 6-2, with 11 aces proving very useful.
Raducanu had complained strongly about the line calling in her first-round win over Ena Shibahara, and there were a few more disputes here, with several overrules and both players voicing their unhappiness.
She struggled to find her range and timing in the first couple of games against 22-year-old Snigur, who is ranked 127th and proficient on grass having won the junior title at Wimbledon five years ago.
Raducanu, who could next meet good friend Francesca Jones, found herself 2-0 down but recovered the break immediately and a tough hold in the next game proved an important moment.
She reeled off six games in a row to clinch the first set and then broke again on a Snigur double fault in the third game of the second.
She had to save two break points at 3-2, with her serve again coming to the rescue, but broke again in the next game before wrapping up victory in an hour and 19 minutes.
"It was an extremely tricky match," said Raducanu. "I knew from before I came on I needed to be on it today because Daria is a really good player and grass-court player especially.
"I'm very, very happy with how I managed it, especially in the beginning, and came through."
Meanwhile, Katie Boulter's dream of a second successive title at her home event is firmly alive after breezing into the quarter-finals.
Victory at the Nottingham Open last year kick-started an impressive year which has seen her surge into the world's top 30.
And she is looking good again on home turf after easing past Rebecca Marino 6-4 6-3 to book a quarter-final spot.
