EASTBOURNE – Emma Raducanu saved a match point before beating second-seeded Jessica Pegula 4-6, 7-6 (6), 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the grass-court Eastbourne International on Wednesday.
The 2021 U.S. Open champion was 6-5 down in the second-set tiebreaker before coming back to record her first win against a top-10 opponent. Pegula is ranked No. 5.
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The 21-year-old British player won when Pegula’s forehand from the back of the court went wide. A relieved Raducanu dropped her racket and placed her head in her hands before waving to the home crowd.
“I’m pretty drained right now,” she said. “I would say this match is one of the more meaningful ones to me.”
Raducanu will be a wild-card entry for Wimbledon next week, after missing last year’s tournament because of hand and ankle injuries.
Pegula won the title at the Berlin Ladies Open last Sunday on grass.
Also in the second round, Britain’s Katie Boulter won 6-4, 7-5 against 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko, and fourth-seeded Madison Keys beat Anhelina Kalinina 7-6 (5), 6-1.
In men's second-round play, there were a couple of upsets as lucky loser Aleksandar Vukic downed third-seeded Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-4, and unseeded Miomir Kecmanovic beat fourth-seeded Sebastian Baez 6-3, 6-2.
Later, top-seeded Taylor Fritz faced unseeded Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild. ___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis