Latest news with #KarolinaMuchova
Reuters
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
WTA roundup: Amanda Anisimova rallies past Jodie Burrage in London
June 9 - No. 8 seed Amanda Anisimova pulled out a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Great Britain's Jodie Burrage to open the HSBC Championships on Monday in London. Burrage broke Anisimova at the outset in order to control the first set. It was tied 2-2 in the second before the American won four of the final five games and the first three of the third set to stifle the home-crowd favorite's upset attempt. Anisimova had 12 aces to Burrage's nine and saved 3 of 6 break points. In other three-setters, Sonay Kartal of Great Britain defeated Australia's Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, and Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia charged past Czech opponent Petra Kvitova 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Germany's Tatjana Maria and Russia's Anastasia Zakharova advanced in straight sets. The final match of the day was suspended due to darkness and will be completed Tuesday. In that one, Czech sixth seed Karolina Muchova won the first set 7-6 (5) before Australian Maddison Inglis took the second 6-3. Libema Open No. 3 seed Elise Mertens of Belgium needed just 68 minutes to defeat Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova 6-4, 6-0 in opening-round action in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. Mertens won a majority of both her first-serve points (20 of 29) and her first-return points (19 of 32) against the overmatched Tomova. Two more seeded players advanced to the next round: No. 7 Lulu Sun of New Zealand (6-1, 6-3 over the Netherlands' Anouck Vrancken Peeters) and No. 8 Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, who beat her younger sister, Polina, for the second time this year, 6-3, 6-3. Also advancing in straight sets were China's Yue Yuan, Russian Anna Blinkova and Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto. --Field Level Media
Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Times
Emma Raducanu: I'm wary when I go out after stalker ordeal
Emma Raducanu admitted she has been 'wary' when going out after her ordeal with a stalker at the Dubai Duty Free Championships this year. The 22-year-old hid behind the umpire's chair in tears after receiving repeated unwanted attention from a man displaying 'fixated behaviour' before and during a second-round match against Karolina Muchova in February. At the time, the 2021 US Open champion said she 'couldn't see the ball through tears' and could 'barely breathe' — and she revealed on Sunday that the situation was exacerbated by her being unsettled without a full-time coach. 'It was difficult,' Raducanu told BBC Sport. 'It was emphasised by the fact I didn't necessarily feel certain or comfortable in my own set-up and team, so it just added to the anxious feeling. 'I'm obviously wary when I go out. I try not to be careless about it because you only realise how much of a problem it is when you're in that situation and I don't necessarily want to be in that situation again. Off the court right now, I feel good, I feel pretty settled. I feel like I have good people around me and anything that was negative, I kind of brush it off as much as I can.' Raducanu has meanwhile revealed that she has low expectations for the start of her grass-court campaign because of a back spasm that continues to hinder her after the French Open. She will take part in the singles and doubles, with Katie Boulter, at the HSBC Championships as women's events return to the Queen's Club for the first time since 1973. Raducanu has been practising in west London with Nick Cavaday, the coach with whom she parted ways in January, while Mark Petchey has commentary duties at Roland Garros. Cavaday withdrew five months ago for health reasons, leaving Petchey and Jane O'Donoghue to oversee her performances on clay, but both men are set to help out on grass. 'I'm happy to see him healthy first of all,' Raducanu said. 'It's been a long time since we were last on court together in Australia. Obviously Mark is in Paris commentating so Nick was around and it was nice to just have a few days with him.' Raducanu played encouragingly on clay, reaching the fourth round of the Italian Open and second round of the French Open, but was comprehensively beaten by Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek. Expectation is higher for British players on grass, but a recurrence of the back spasm that affected her in Australia and France has hindered Raducanu's preparations. 'Of course you want to win the tournament, like every tournament, but especially when it's at home,' Raducanu said. 'My expectations, truthfully, are pretty low because I played points for the first time today and I've had maybe two or three days on the grass courts so it's not been much. 'Today was the first day I opened it up and played points on the grass so it's pretty early days. I wouldn't say I've had a lot of prep on it but I felt pretty good today. Playing with Katie in a doubles match on the grass hopefully will help give a good feel of how it is to serve, to move and to react to balls on that surface. British grass-court season HSBC Championships, Queen's Club June 9-15 (women's) June 16-22 (men's) Nottingham Open June 16-22 (women's) Rothesay International, Eastbourne June 23-28 (women's and men's) The Championships, Wimbledon June 30-July 13 (women's and men's) 'I know I've been managing my back for the last few weeks now and that's something that comes and goes. Overall I just have to manage what I can take care of and if it does happen then I just need to deal with it and just keep doing the right thing.' Last year Raducanu reached the semi-finals in Nottingham, where she lost to Boulter, and defeated Jessica Pegula, the world No5, en route to the Eastbourne quarter-finals before a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon. This year's calendar differs because of the restoration of a WTA 500 event at Queen's. After the championships stopped in 1973, Queen's returned in 1977 as a men's-only event, but this year there will be a week-long women's draw to kick off a fortnight of competition. Ten members of the women's top 20 will be in action. Qinwen Zheng is the highest-ranked entrant, followed by Madison Keys and Emma Navarro. Barbora Krejcikova, the defending Wimbledon champion, is here along with the former SW19 victors Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina. Joining Raducanu in the singles are fellow Britons Boulter, Sonay Kartal, Jodie Burrage, Francesca Jones and Heather Watson. Boulter and Raducanu will team up in doubles against Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu on Monday. This is novel ground for Raducanu: she competed at the 2022 Citi Open with Clara Tauson, and infamously withdrew from a partnership with Sir Andy Murray at Wimbledon last year. Murray will be at Queen's on Monday when centre court is unveiled as the Andy Murray Arena. Boulter comes into Queen's from an uplifting clay season in which she secured her first tour-level win on the surface, a title at WTA 125 level, and a first win at Roland Garros. 'Obviously I want to do well here, but at the same time I know it's my first week, I'm trying to build towards Wimbledon as well,' Boulter said. 'So I've got quite a few weeks before then.' Kartal also reached the second round at the French Open, and will start at Queen's on Monday with a tough match against Daria Kasatkina, before Burrage faces Amanda Anisimova. Boulter will play Ajla Tomljanovic and Raducanu will take on Cristina Bucsa in the first round.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Sport
- Daily Mail
'Wary' Emma Raducanu opens up on coping with her stalker ordeal as she returns to play in the UK for the first time since being left in tears in Dubai
Emma Raducanu has opened up on the stalking ordeal she suffered earlier this year while playing in Dubai, which have left her more 'wary' when leaving the house. The 2021 US Open champion pulled off one of the great underdog stories in the history of all sports when she won her maiden Grand Slam title as a qualifier in New York as a teenager. As such, her profile in the global media sky-rocketed from relative unknown to the must-have brand ambassador. However, though this naturally brought her new opportunities, it unfortunately brought with it more ominous side-effects, which came to the fore in Dubai. Two games into her clash with Karolina Muchova she had to hide behind the umpire's chair and was in tears while a man - who 'exhibited fixated behaviour' - was removed from the arena and later handed a restraining order. Raducanu made her return to action at Indian Wells back in March, but has now spoken about how things have changed for her since the events of Dubai, as she prepares for her first home outing at Queen's. 'I've definitely noticed a difference in how people are watching my back when I'm on the site [at tournaments],' she told BBC Sport. 'I'm obviously wary when I go out. I try not to be careless about it because you only realise how much of a problem it is when you're in that situation and I don't necessarily want to be in that situation again. 'But off the court right now, I feel good. I feel pretty settled. I feel like I have good people around me and anything that was kind of negative I'm just like trying to brush it off as much as I can.' Raducanu comes into the grass court season with an ongoing back issue that she will be hoping does not curtail her preparations for Wimbledon. The British No 2 will also be pairing up with compatriot Katie Boulter in the doubles, an event she hasn't got the most experience in. Yet the instability with her coaching team remains, and she will reunite with childhood mentor Nick Cavaday, who had stepped away after the Australian Open for health reasons. She has had a number of coaches, including Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov and Sebastian Sachs, and worked alongside Vladimir Patenik for just a fortnight earlier in 2025. Cavaday had been crucial to her return to the top 60 following a 2023 filled with injury recovery, and will partner Mark Petchey, who used to coach two-time Wimbledon champion and former World No 1 Andy Murray. Raducanu is newly working with Andy Murray's former coach Mark Petchey - although the relationship is being taken one step at a time '[In] the last couple months I found some better form but I've also learnt about myself that I can't necessarily do it with people that I don't trust, or I don't necessarily like so, truthfully, for me that's what's improved as well in the last couple months,' she said. 'I have a pretty good gut feeling and intuition about people who I get on with, and who I trust. 'And I think sometimes I try and reason with myself because logically I'm like, "OK, well, maybe this person can bring me this and I need it", and I try and force myself through it, but I've just realised, it doesn't work. 'And when there's a bad energy or bad environment, it just lingers.' On Cavaday, she added: 'I'm happy to see him healthy first of all, it has been a long time since we were last on court together in Australia,' Raducanu told a news conference when speaking about Cavaday. 'Mark is in Paris commentating [on the French Open], Nick was around and it was nice to have a few days with him. They'll both be helping me throughout the grass [season]. I trust them both a lot.'
North Wales Chronicle
a day ago
- Sport
- North Wales Chronicle
Emma Raducanu: I'm ‘wary' when going out after stalker ordeal in Dubai
The 22-year-old hid behind the umpire's chair in tears after receiving repeated unwanted attention from a 'fixated' man before and during a second-round match against Karolina Muchova in February. At the time, Raducanu said she 'couldn't see the ball through tears' and could 'barely breathe', while she revealed now that the situation was exacerbated by her being unsettled without a full-time coach. While Raducanu still minds her surroundings, the 2021 US Open champion wants to move on as she approaches the grass-court season with coaches Mark Petchey and Nick Cavaday in tow. 'It was difficult,' she told BBC Sport. 'It was emphasised by the fact I didn't necessarily feel certain or comfortable in my own set-up and team so it just added to the anxious feeling. 'I'm obviously wary when I go out. I try not to be careless about it because you only realise how much of a problem it is when you're in that situation and I don't necessarily want to be in that situation again. 'Off the court right now, I feel good, I feel pretty settled. I feel like I have good people around me and anything that was negative, I kind of brush it off as much as I can.' Raducanu, who suffered a second-round exit to Iga Swiatek at the French Open, is managing a back issue in the build-up to Wimbledon, having been hindered by persistent spasm issues for much of 2025. She will feature in the inaugural women's Queen's Club Championships this week, where she will take on Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa in the first round.
South Wales Guardian
a day ago
- Sport
- South Wales Guardian
Emma Raducanu: I'm ‘wary' when going out after stalker ordeal in Dubai
The 22-year-old hid behind the umpire's chair in tears after receiving repeated unwanted attention from a 'fixated' man before and during a second-round match against Karolina Muchova in February. At the time, Raducanu said she 'couldn't see the ball through tears' and could 'barely breathe', while she revealed now that the situation was exacerbated by her being unsettled without a full-time coach. While Raducanu still minds her surroundings, the 2021 US Open champion wants to move on as she approaches the grass-court season with coaches Mark Petchey and Nick Cavaday in tow. 'It was difficult,' she told BBC Sport. 'It was emphasised by the fact I didn't necessarily feel certain or comfortable in my own set-up and team so it just added to the anxious feeling. 'I'm obviously wary when I go out. I try not to be careless about it because you only realise how much of a problem it is when you're in that situation and I don't necessarily want to be in that situation again. 'Off the court right now, I feel good, I feel pretty settled. I feel like I have good people around me and anything that was negative, I kind of brush it off as much as I can.' Raducanu, who suffered a second-round exit to Iga Swiatek at the French Open, is managing a back issue in the build-up to Wimbledon, having been hindered by persistent spasm issues for much of 2025. She will feature in the inaugural women's Queen's Club Championships this week, where she will take on Spanish qualifier Cristina Bucsa in the first round.
