Emma Raducanu puts GB on brink of Billie Jean King Cup semis with statement win | Tennis | Sport
Emma Raducanu held off a fightback from Canada’s Rebecca Marino to move Great Britain within one win of the Billie Jean King Cup semi-finals.
Toronto-born Raducanu, who emigrated to the UK with her family when she was two, raced to the first set against the Canadian No.2 without dropping a game.
But the former US Open winner had to save seven break points in the second set before winning 6-0 7-5 in one hour and 29 minutes
British No.1 Katie Boulter will face Canadian No.1 Leylah Fernandez, who lost to Raducanu in the 2021 US Open final, in the second singles against the defending champions.
The winners will play Slovakia, who have beaten the USA and Australia, in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Iga Swiatek‘s Poland will face Italy in the other last four tie. Great Britain has never won the Billie Jean King Cup – formerly the Fed Cup – since it was first held in 1963.
World No.103 Marino has never won a WTA title or got beyond the third round in a Major. And there was even a different sound to the shots off her racquet compared to the former US Open champion. Raducanu also made her run to every corner of the court.
The tone of the match was set in the opening game. The Canadian had to save two break points before she put a backhand into the net on third point to immediately trail.
After Raducanu held to love, Marino gifted a third break point in the third game when she mis-cued a smash over the backhand. The British No.2 punished her by hitting the sideline with a forehand crosscourt drive and Marino could only fluff her forehand into the net.
Raducanu completed a hat-trick of breaks in the first set when Marino sent a forehand long on the first break point to go 0-5 down. And the world No.58 wrapped up the first set when she wrongfooted the Canadian with a forehand winner down the line after only 28 minutes.
The second set was a closer encounter as the Canadian, who is six feet tall, started to find her range with her big forehand. She relentlessly targetted the Raducanu backhand with her best shot.
The Canadian No.2 finally held serve in the first game of the second set and then forced her first three break points at 2-1 before Raducanu held.
And Marino had four more break points at 4-3 in the longest game of the match before the British No.2 held when the Canadian fired a big forehand long. It was to be her final chance.
At 5-5 on the Marino serve, Raducanu earned her first and only break point of the set with a forehand crosscourt pass before the Canadian missed with another forehand to allow the British No.2 to serve for the match.
And she took her third match point when Marino hooked a backhand crosscourt into the tramlines.
