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Emma Raducanu has edged closer to a return to the world’s top 50 after reaching the quarter-finals of the Korea Open.
The British tennis star fired down 11 aces past eighth seed Yuan Yue in a 6-4, 6-3 victory to progress into the final eight in Seoul.
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Raducanu is into the quarter finals of the Korea Open
Raducanu is into the quarter finals of the Korea OpenCredit: Getty
It is an impressive resurgence from the 21-year-old on the back of her crushing first round exit at the US Open.
Raducanu was bundled out of Flushing Meadows by Sofia Kenin and delivered a teary press conference in which she said she should have played ‘a little bit more’ going into the tournament.
Her loss to Kenin also meant she had still not won a match at the US Open since her unlikely victory in 2021, when – at the age of 18 – she qualified for the main draw and did not drop a set all the way through.
However, she has rebounded in a strong way in South Korea with a gruelling first round victory over Peyton Stearns, followed by a win against Yue.
Raducanu’s two wins has also fired her up the WTA rankings and has her knocking on the door of the top 50.
Before her match against Stearns, Raducanu sat 70th.
But the two wins at the Korea Open have catapulted her 16 places into 54th.
A win in the quarter-finals would push Raducanu into the top 50, but it will be a tough ask given she faces the No. 1 seed Daria Kasatkina.
Kasatkina, the world No. 13, enjoyed a first round bye and breezed past Hailey Baptiste 6-4, 6-2 to book a date with Raducanu.
Raducanu and Kasatkina have met twice before, with the Russian winning both contests in straight sets.
The Briton conceded the hard courts in Seoul are more beneficial to Kasatkina’s game, but it won’t stop her from playing with the handbrake off.
