As Emma Raducanu knows better than most, much can change over the course of a fortnight. Raducanu’s 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 victory over Magda Linette in Indian Wells hardly bears comparison with her momentous run to the US Open title 18 months ago, but it did offer a reminder of how quickly fortunes can turn in a sport that never sleeps.
It is only a fortnight since Raducanu was forced to pull out of a tournament in Texas after contracting tonsilitis, a setback from which was still reeling when the wrist injury that hampered her towards the end of last season returned. Those latest unwelcome additions to the extensive catalogue of injuries and ailments from which the world No 77 has suffered since her victory at Flushing Meadows hardly augured well for her appearance at Indian Wells. Yet, having coughed and spluttered her way past Montenegro’s Danka Kovinic in the opening round, the 20-year-old can now point to palpable evidence of progress.
With her steely win over Linette, the Polish world No 21 who reached the semi-finals of this year’s Australian Open, Raducanu achieved her best victory by ranking since she defeated Maria Sakkari in the last four of the US Open. It was also the first time she has won two matches in a row since she made the last four at the Korea Open almost six months ago. More important than any statistical milestone, however, was the tenacious manner of the win.
Regularly shaking off her wrist between points, Raducanu was in obvious discomfort as she lost four of the first five games. It did not help that Linette, a player whose consistency, athleticism and defensive skills typically ensure that every point must be earned, was barely putting a foot wrong. Gradually, though, Raducanu began to adapt to the nature of the challenge, abandoning her initial policy of all-out aggression in favour of a more measured approached. As she applied more shape to her shots, driving Linette off the baseline with heavy topspin and biding her time in the rallies, the Pole’s assurance began to wane.
No Raducanu match would be complete without a visit from the trainer, and here it came immediately after Raducanu had broken to lead 6-5. It was an inopportune moment to stop for a medical timeout, and the Briton wisely declined that offer, electing instead to soldier on after taking a painkiller. She was immediately broken to love but, with Linette increasingly struggling to find the court, Raducanu rattled through the tiebreak and did not look back.
“I feel more positive about my game today,” said Raducanu, who showed no sign of the coughing and laboured breathing that affected her in her opening match.
“The first day [against Kovinic] I didn’t really know what was going on. Today I felt pretty decent out there, especially with the conditions. It was really windy. I did well to overcome it.”
Raducanu declined to elaborate on the nature of her wrist problem, saying only that she was “managing it”. Nor did she show any inclination to bemoan her run of bad luck with injuries and illness.
“Sometimes you wonder, you think, how is this possible?” she mused. “But I think you create your own luck. It works both ways. I won the US Open as well, and I think I also have to take the bad luck sometimes, because good fortune has also come upon me.
“I wouldn’t trade that title for the world. I’m just prepared to take whatever it takes, knowing that I have that in the bank.”
What Anne Keothavong, Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup captain, would give to know that she has Raducanu in the bank for next month’s qualifying clash against France. Asked after her match against Kovinic whether she would be playing, the British No 1 said she hadn’t thought about but would decide once she knew the dates. That drew a bemused response from Keothavong, who wrote on social media: “My communication skills are generally good in case anyone was wondering.”
Raducanu is scheduled to play at the Stuttgart Open, which starts on 15 April and is backed by Porsche, one of her chief sponsors. Britain face France in Coventry on 14 and 15 April.
While Raducanu advances to a third-round meeting with Brazil’s Beatriz Haddad Maia, the 13th seed, two-time champion Victoria Azarenka is out. Azarenka, seeded 14th, was beaten 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 by Karolina Muchova, whose commitment to attack and superior handling of the gusty conditions proved decisive.
Azarenka’s exit promises to ease the progress of Ons Jabeur through the second quarter of the draw. Jabeur, the fourth seed, marked her return from knee surgery with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
French, who made it into the main draw as a lucky loser, made the most of an error-strewn start by the Tunisian, taking a set off a top-10 player for the first time. But Jabeur gradually found her range, forcing a break in the ninth game of the second set behind some heavy forehands, serving out to level the contest and then easing through the decider. The 28-year-old, who revealed afterwards that her knee is no more than “80%, getting there”, said she had nothing to lose in the next round against Marketa Vondrousova, who consigned her to an early defeat at the Australian Open a couple of months ago.
“It’s a tough decision to come back, and I was the one that insisted that I come back in Indian Wells and Miami,” said Jabeur. “It was probably too early to come back, but I just made it a new challenge for myself.
“I did regret it after the first set. But then, you know, I just told myself to accept what’s happening, to fight through it, and to just see how it goes. I’m sure it will get better and better every match.”
Iga Swiatek, the top seed, will be hard pushed to achieve that after opening her title defence with a blistering performance. Swiatek swept past Claire Liu, the American world No 56, 6-1, 60 to book a third-round appointment with Bianca Andreescu, the 32nd seed and former US Open champion.