Emma Raducanu takes out Linda Noskova in convincing fashion at Stuttgart
With the victory, Raducanu earns a quarterfinal meeting with World No. 1 Iga Swiatek
2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu is regaining her form and marching up the rankings. After a stellar performance at last week's Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers representing Great Britain in its win over France, Raducanu has continued to play the best tennis in years at Stuttgart.
On Wednesday, she defeated two-time Stuttgart champion Angelique Kerber in straight sets. A day later, with her left knee bandaged, she delivered another straight-set performance over Czech Republic's Linda Noskova who has upset Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina, and Jelena Ostapenko thus far in 2024.
The final score was 6-0, 7-5. Noskova had opportunities in the first set to break her serve as Raducanu fell behind in multiple games, but Raducanu lifted her level and shut the door on Noskova.
Raducanu vs. Swiatek is an Indian Wells rematch
Raducanu is a fierce competitor, now ranked in the Top 200. She will relish the opportunity to see where her game and comeback are against World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.
Swiatek has won both of their previous meetings in straight sets. The first was in 2022 in Stuttgart, and the second was last year at Indian Wells. Raducanu admits that she has matured a lot since their last Stuttgart meeting. She has nothing to lose and looks forward to swinging freely.
Raducanu's lone title is on the hardcourts of the US Open, but she is getting acclimated to clay court play. The question mark for her is durability. She has played more matches in the past two weeks than she has in years. Can she keep her intensity and shotmaking level high? She will need to do so to have a chance at upsetting Swiatek.
Other quarterfinal matches at Stuttgart feature Elena Rybakina vs. Jasmine Paolini who upset Ons Jabeur earlier in the day. Paolini, the 2023 Dubai Open champion, is showing the world that Italian tennis is more than just the Jannik Sinner show. Marketa Vondrousova will face Aryna Sabalenka. Coco Gauff will play the winner of the remaining Round of 16 match between Qinwen Zheng and Marta Kostyuk.
All of the quarterfinal matches will be played on Friday with Rybakina and Paolini kicking things off at 6:30 AM EDT. Watch the Porsche Grand Prix in Stuttgart on the Tennis Channel.
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