British number one Emma Raducanu overcame a shaky start to beat Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawangkaew to reach the second round at the Australian Open.
Raducanu, seeded in her first major since the 2022 U.S. Open, lost serve early against the world No. 196 and looked sluggish.
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But the former US Open champion eventually found her rhythm at Margaret Court Arena, winning seven consecutive matches 6-4 6-1.
“I’m happy to finish the match. From the beginning I thought she played very well,” said 28th seed Raducanu.
“I’m really proud of how I fought back in the first set.”
The 23-year-old will next face Austria’s Anastasia Potapova, with world number one Aryna Sabalenka likely to wait in the third round.
Raducanu made encouraging progress in 2025, rejoining the world’s top 30 and playing in more tournaments than in any previous season of her career.
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However, the technical work she planned to do in the offseason with coach Francisco Roig (who helped Rafael Nadal win 16 of his 22 Grand Slam titles) was hampered by a foot injury.
She arrived in Melbourne with just one win, and in her final match before the year’s first major, she suffered a shock loss to world No. 204 Taylah Preston in Hobart.
It briefly looked like Raducanu might be in for another upset, as Savantkaou, making his Grand Slam main draw debut, had rejuvenated himself in his previous games, overwhelming Raducanu with aggressive returns and clever play at the net.
She broke the Englishman’s serve in the third game and had a chance to take a 4-1 lead, but Raducanu responded with some fantastic winners to avoid falling further behind.
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Raducanu’s momentum gathered from this, and she fought back to bring the score to 4-4 before breaking again to take the first set.
She continued to dominate the Thai player, hitting 17 winners, while Sawangkaew hit nine winners and won 27 of 40 points in the second set, sealing the victory with an ace.
Raducanu added: “She’s playing some incredible tennis and is ranked much higher than where she is currently, so I think she’s going to do well this year.”