British No. 1 Emma Raducanu fought back from 0-5 down after just 25 minutes to beat Slovenia’s Kaja Juvan 7-5 6-1, winning 11 games on the trot and completing a stunning victory to reach the quarter-finals of the WTA 250 Transylvania Open powered by Kaufland in Romania on Wednesday.
At least I could say I tried to play on my terms, so that was the goal for me. I don’t think I’ve ever come back from 5-0 down before, so that’s a first to add to the experience. I have to try to recover straight away… It’s not much time to turn around, but hopefully I can find some energy. Emma Raducanu
In her second match since the break with coach Francis Roig, Raducanu needed an hour and 37 minutes to progress. She awoke from an apparent sleep to seize control of the match and lay the foundation for an impressive victory that looked unlikely in the early stages.
“Thanks for the support, it really helped me through some tough moments in that first set,” the No. 1 said with her trademark grin. “Kaja played fantastic tennis and immediately put me on the back foot.
“I thought I was aggressive and going for my shots, but I missed and didn’t execute. At least I could say I tried to play on my terms, so that was the goal for me.”
“I don’t think I’ve ever come back from 5-0 down before, so this is a first to add to the experience.”
Raducanu was on the verge of losing the opening set against Juvan, but a crosscourt forehand winner helped her break through in the sixth game, and she finally got on the scoreboard.
Now ahead, the Briton broke twice more to level at 5-5 when world number 97 Juvan faltered and failed to serve for the set three times.
The 23-year-old top seed let out a scream and a fist pump as she held on herself to move 6-5 ahead before grabbing her second set point in the next game.
Raducanu saved a break point in the first game of the second, before breaking Juvan to take full control of the match.
It looked like she was going to play down the set with Juvan’s spirit broken and the Slovakian visibly angry with herself during the change of ends, but the Brit then dropped a game at 4-0, ending her run of 11 in a row.
It was a short-lived revival for Juvan, and Raducanu took the next two games to advance to the Last 8.
This is the first time Raducanu has won consecutive matches since the US Open last August.
The draw has opened for Raducanu, who will now face 146th-ranked Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska in Thursday’s quarter-finals.
Raducanu was at number 1 this week and is currently ranked 30th. She is bidding to win her first WTA tour title since the 2021 US Open.
“I have to try to recover immediately,” Raducanu said on track afterwards. “It’s not much time to turn around, but hopefully I can find some energy.”
Chwalinska, meanwhile, had outwitted No. 7 seed Olga Danilovic of Serbia in a chaotic second-round encounter, winning 6-1 1-6 6-2 to reach her first career WTA quarter-final.
The Polish qualifier delivered an array of crowd-pleasing touches in the 1 hour and 53 minute match, improving to 2-0 against her fellow 2001-born peer Danilovic, on tour.
WTAtennis.com
Elsewhere, defending champion Anastasia Potapova of Austria outlasted Anastasia Zakharova’s might and had to go all out for the second round in a row to keep her title defense alive at the Transylvania Open.
The No. 5 seed withstood a barrage of winners from the Russian and had to turn the match around from a set down to eventually win after 2 hours and 9 minutes, 1-6 6-4 6-3.
Potapova now meets home favourite, Sorana Cirstea, the last Romanian and number 3 seed, who lost just one match against lucky loser Tamara Zidansek of Slovenia, winning 6-1 6-0 in 53 minutes to advance to her place in the quarter-finals.
The highlight of the one-sided match was a Zidansek volley, loaded with so much backspin that it bounced back to her side of the net.
Ukrainian qualifier Daria Snigur needed just 55 minutes to upset No. 2 seed Jaqueline Cristian, another home favorite, 6-1 6-0 to reach the Last 8, her second tour-level quarter-final after Cluj-Napoca three years ago.
Snigur meets the Chinese Yuan Yue on Tuesday, who survived a marathon against the Spanish Sara Sorribes Tormo on Tuesday.
Also through to the quarters is another Chinese fourth seed Wang
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