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Emma Raducanu through to third round of Madrid Open

Emma Raducanu through to third round of Madrid Open
© Reuters
Emma Raducanu advances to the third round of the Madrid Open while Dan Evans and Jack Draper also advance on a good day for Great Britain.

British number one Emma Raducanu capped off a strong day for the nation at the Madrid Open by advancing to the third round of the clay tournament.

After being forced to do it the hard way in her first-round clash with Tereza Martincova, Raducanu's meeting with Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk was a much more straightforward affair.

Raducanu took five of her 12 opportunities to break on the day to march to a 6-2 6-1 victory over Kostyuk, who made five double faults and only posted a measly 27% win rate on her second serves.

The US Open champion has now won four of her six matches on clay, with one of those defeats coming at the hands of world number one Iga Swiatek at the Stuttgart Open.

Raducanu's victory comes after her split from coach Torben Beltz, with the teenager under the tutelage of Iain Bates for the remainder of the week.

Emma Raducanu pictured at the Indian Wells Masters on March 13, 2022© Reuters

"I'm definitely happy with my performance. Marta's a great opponent - I knew it was going to be a really tough battle. I went out there trying to be really aggressive and it paid off," Raducanu said during her on-court interview after her victory.

The 19-year-old must now advance past another Ukrainian in Anhelina Kalinina for a spot in the quarter-finals, where either Elena Rybakina or Jil Teichmann will await the victor of that contest.

Raducanu was one of three British players to come up trumps in their singles contests on Sunday, with Dan Evans also advancing to the second round of the men's tournament.

Evans progressed 6-3 6-4 past Federico Delbonis of Argentina with six aces in tow to advance to round two, where either Roberto Bautista Agut or Jenson Brooksby will await him.

Dan Evans in action at the Monte Carlo Masters on April 12, 2021© Reuters

There was also a straight sets triumph for Jack Draper, who saw off the threat of Lorenzo Sonego 6-4 6-3 in something of a shock result, and he has been rewarded with a second-round clash versus Andrey Rublev.

Elsewhere, there were last-32 exits for Grand Slam finalists Danielle Collins and Leylah Fernandez in the women's tournament, with Canadian Bianca Andreescu storming to a 6-1 6-1 victory over the former.

Monday will see Cameron Norrie and Andy Murray both take to the court for GB, with the former meeting Kwon Soon-woo while Murray pits his wits against former world number three Dominic Thiem.

Former world number one Simona Halep will also be in action in her third-round meeting with Coco Gauff, as Belinda Bencic meets Ons Jabeur for another spot in the quarter-finals.

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Written by
Ben Knapton

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