Raducanu shrugs off illness to book clash with Swiatek

Emma Raducanu admitted she was battling an illness as she came through a three-set marathon to book a blockbuster second-round meeting with defending champion Iga Swiatek at the French Open.

- ANDY SIMS

The 22-year-old was leading China’s Wang Xinyu 6-5 in the first set when she called for the doctor, rubbing ice on her cheeks and around her eyes as she had her blood pressure checked.

There were fears that Raducanu, who has had a history of injury and illness issues throughout her career, would have to retire from the match. But after three minutes of treatment, she came back onto the court and confidently served out the set to love.

Wang rallied to take the second set but, in front of a big crowd on a cramped Court Eight, Raducanu hit back to complete a gutsy 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 victory in two hours and 44 minutes – the joint-longest match of her career on clay.

Raducanu, who came into the tournament managing a back problem, said: “I think I’m actually really proud of today’s match, more so than a lot of the matches that I played recently or in general, because I woke up and I felt really sick, to be honest.