Raducanu had appeared below her peak performance in her two previous matches due to illness, yet, just over two weeks after her initial round departure from Roland Garros, the British player began anew on Andy Murray Arena.
The victor of the 2021 US Open established a dominant 3-0 advantage prior to a rain-induced stoppage – though this pause failed to disturb her momentum.
She secured the initial set unanswered in merely 20 minutes on the court, triumphing in 25 out of the 31 points contested – achieving 11 winners and only two errors not forced.
Raducanu sustained her superb standard to commence the subsequent set with a service break – even though things would not unfold completely in her favour.
A Queen’s quarter-finalist from the previous year, Raducanu found herself impeded by successive double-faults, enabling Blinkova to regain ground – with four consecutive service breaks leveling the score at three games each.
Nevertheless, Raducanu achieved another break, thanks to a lucky net touch, creating an opportunity to serve for the contest, and she displayed a radiant grin in the sunlight as a final backhand shot driven down the line on her second match point elicited immense applause.
Inscribing ‘back home’ accompanied by a heart symbol on a television camera lens before departing the playing area, Raducanu is scheduled to come back and compete against either Romania’s Sorana Cirstea or Australia’s Maddison Inglis in the next round.
