Seoul, South Korea: Former US Open champion Ms. Emma Raducanu overcame a late slump to defeat Japan’s 126th-ranked Ms. Moyuka Uchijima in her opening match at the Korean Open.

The 19-year-old Briton, seeded sixth in Seoul, looked ready to take on her Japanese opponent despite struggling with the first serve at times, but after blowing two match points in the second set, she got down to business.

The 2021 US Open champion’s powerful ground strokes proved too much for Ms. Uchijima as the player cruised to a 6-2 6-4 victory in one hour and 18 minutes on Center Court in the South Korean capital.

After serving out the first set, Ms. Raducanu broke immediately in the second set, reeling off five straight games, Ms. Uchijima saved two match points, avoided the bagel and fought back twice to fight back against the Briton twice to reach world No. 77.

The Japanese reeled off Ms. Raducanu’s faltering confidence and won four games in a row, but the British player finally secured the win and advanced to the next round when serving for the match for the third time.

As she continues to try to recapture her good form, Ms. Raducanu will face Belgium’s Ms. Yanina Wickmayer in the last 16 after beating Ms. Linda Fruhvirtova in straight sets.

“I think it was overall a pretty solid match until the end of the second set, It’s tough when you haven’t been playing that many matches, you’re not as used to those situations. I’m really happy with the way I regrouped and held the serve on that last game because it was really important to win that game.” remarked Ms. Raducanu in a post-match interview.

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