Emma Raducanu makes winning return in Indian Wells, beats Danka Kovinic in opener

Playing for the first time in more than 50 days, Emma Raducanu produced a stunning win over Danka Kovinic 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday at the Indian Wells.

Although falling to Kovinic on their previous meeting in the 2022 Australian Open second round, Raducanu ultimately exacted comprehensive retaliation against her despite falling behind 2-0 in both sets. She was having physical problems during that game as well. Blisters appeared on her playing hand next.

In the first set, Raducanu won six games in a row to win, and in the second set, he won six of the final seven games, including four straight from a 2-0 deficit. Serving in the sixth game, Raducanu averted three break points that would have allowed Kovinic to even the score at 3-3 and went on to win the following eight points.

A year earlier, Raducanu advanced to the third round of Indian Wells. She must defeat Australian Open finalist and No. 20 seed Magda Linette of Poland if she hopes to repeat that feat in 2023.

In their initial encounter, which took place in the quarterfinals of the Hana Bank Korea Open in September, Raducanu defeated Linette 6-2, 6-2. It was Raducanu's sixth event of the previous season.

"It was a good match for me to get through. I think that Danka is an extremely difficult opponent. I was expecting [a battle] going into today, and I'm just glad to get through," WTA.com quoted Raducanu as saying during an on-court afterwards.

"I'm happy I stuck in. Being a breakdown is difficult, of course, but I think mentally, I just took it one point at a time," Raducanu said.

"She's had a great season so far. Her results prove that and I know that from the match we played in Seoul, that it was quite physical. I'm looking forward to the match and I'm just so happy to be playing another round here in Indian Wells," Raducanu said.

Meanwhile, former World No.2 Sofia Kenin advanced to the second round at the BNP Paribas Open after defeating fellow American Sloane Stephens 6-4, 6-1 on Thursday night. Kenin will face reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina on Saturday.

Kenin finished the match with 13 winners to 22 unforced errors and faced just four break points in the match, saving three. Stephens hit 16 winners to 33 unforced errors.

( With inputs from ANI )

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