Emma Raducanu 'proud' of 'aggressive' approach in win over Daria Kasatkina at Strasbourg International, and 'building my relationship' with clay
By Alex Livie
Published 19/05/2025 at 19:04 GMT+1
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Emma Raducanu made the trip to north east France a worthwhile one as she eased to victory over Daria Kasatkina at the Strasbourg International on Monday evening. Kasatkina had won their previous three meetings, but Raducanu was completely dominant after accepting a wildcard into the event. Watch and stream the French Open live and on demand on TNT Sports and discovery+
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Video credit: SNTV
Emma Raducanu justified her decision to accept a wildcard to the Strasbourg International with a dominant 6-1 6-3 victory over Daria Kasatkina.
Following her defeat to Coco Gauff in Rome, Raducanu said she had no desire to "go and hide in a hole somewhere, I want to get back out there".
Those words preceded a trip to Strasbourg, and her first taste of action in north-eastern France was a positive one as she made short work of the No. 6 seed.
Raducanu had never taken a set off Kasatkina in three previous meetings, but turned that on its head in emphatic fashion as she closed out victory in 79 minutes - and got game time into her legs ahead of the French Open which is live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
"I am really proud of my performance," Raducanu said. "I came out and I was really aggressive and managed to maintain my focus in the second set when it was getting close and Daria was playing some great points as I was trying to serve the match out.
"I am really proud of today’s performance."
Asked if it was one of her best performances on clay, Raducanu said: "I think I have been building towards this.
"I had three great matches in Rome, I played an opponent who was better than me on the day, and I think to bring that level here I am really proud.
"I think as I spend more time on clay I am starting to like it a little bit more. I am kind of building my relationship with the surface."
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Raducanu set the tone early, as a superb whipped forehand brought the first fist pump of the day. Two points later she secured the break, as a Kasatkina forehand crashed into the tape and flew long.
The fist pumps were contagious, as a penetrating forehand from Kasatkina set up a break-back point, and the pump of a fist. The Australian secured the break one point later as Raducanu overcooked a forehand.
From there, it was pretty much one-way traffic as Raducanu took control of the clash.
Raducanu secured her second break in as many Kasatkina service games to wrestle back the advantage and held to love in the fourth game.
A third Kasatkina service game resulted in another break, as she coughed up her serve once again when sending a backhand sailing over the baseline. And the clean sweep of service breaks was completed when Kasatkina was broken in the seventh game as Raducanu wrapped up the opening set in 29 minutes.
Kasatkina snapped a run of five games in a row from Raducanu when breaking at the start of the second, but it did not shift the momentum as she threw in two double faults in the following game and was broken again when Raducanu sent her scampering to her backhand wing to retrieve an angled shot and only managed to send the ball long.
Raducanu’s display was not flawless and a couple of errant forehands enabled Kasatkina to break for the second time in the second set, and further breaks were traded.
Kasatkina’s day was summed up when Raducanu broke again for a perfect eight breaks from eight service games, and the Brit served out for the win to set up a meeting with Danielle Collins.
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