AFCON 2025
Photo credit : metro.co.uk
TENNIS
By Chima Azu.
Emma Raducanu who stunned the tennis world as an eighteen year old by winning the US Open few weeks ago with a 100 percent record, was brought back to earth by the Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich ranked 100 in the world by defeating the Briton 6-2 6-4 to move to the third round of the WTA 1000 tour.
The US Open champion being a heavy hitter met her match in Sasnovich who had a fine display by hitting some winners in the first set. Emma kept playing her attacking style by coming to the net but got lobbed and got passed by some nice shots by Aliaksandra. The first set was more one sided little wonder why the Belarusian won by 6-2 breaking the world number 17 four times.
In the second set, Sasnovich broke Emma’s serve to take the lead but Raducanu showed why she was champion by winning the next two games with some fine display. She also lead the second set 4-2.
However, Raducanu could not take advantage of her lead and her inexperience showed as Sasnovich who was previously in the top 30 and also a seasoned campaigner fought her way back to win the second set by 6-4 and won the match in two straight sets. She will now be playing Simona Halep next in the third round who happens to be Raducanu’s role model.
