.jpg)
23 hours ago
1
Emma Raducanu claimed victory in her first match since September as she gave Great Britain a winning start to their Billie Jean King Cup tie against Germany in Malaga.
Raducanu, who had not played since retiring from her quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina at the Korea Open two months ago after straining foot ligaments, defeated Jule Niemeier 6-4 6-4.
The 2021 US Open champion saved five break points in the opening set and although she lost serve twice in the second - including in the eighth game after squandering match points - her three breaks of Niemeier serve took her to victory.
Raducanu missed multiple opportunities to clinch the win, on her serve and the German's, before finally converting a sixth match point.
Twitter This content is provided by Twitter, which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Twitter cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Twitter cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Twitter cookies for this session only.
The 22-year-old's win put Britain 1-0 up ahead of Katie Boulter's meeting with Laura Siegemund, with Heather Watson and Olivia Nicholls primed for doubles action should a deciding rubber be needed.
Raducanu revealed this week she is in discussions with fitness trainer Yutaka Nakamura about joining her team - the Japanese has previously worked with Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka.
The Brit said: "I think my goal next year is to stay on court longer. This year I came to top 60 in the world, but I played I think less than 15 events. I know if I'm on court and healthy and competing, I can go even higher and further.
"I think that my athleticism is a strength of mine, but it's nowhere near its full potential. I'm just looking forward to exploring that further, and ready to commit to doing that."
Raducanu's best singles result this year is reaching the semi-finals at Nottingham, where she lost to eventual champion Boulter as her opponent rallied from losing the first set in a tie-break.
Should Britain defeat Germany in the Billie Jean King Cup, they will advance to a quarter-final against Canada on Sunday.
Watch tennis, including the end of the ATP Finals in Turin this weekend and then the ATP Next Gen Finals next week, live on Sky Sports. Get Sky Sports or stream with NOW.
English (US)