Emma Raducanu beats former US Open champion Sloane Stephens in Eastbourne to book Jessica Pegula clash

Emma Raducanu will play second seed Jessica Pegula in the second round after despatching Sloane Stephens 6-4 6-0 in her Eastbourne opener; Raducanu will play at Wimbledon next month after receiving a wild card to feature

Emma Raducanu has cruised into the second round of the Rothesay International after a straight-sets win over fellow former US Open champion Sloane Stephens in Eastbourne. She twice battled back from a break down to take the opening set before rattling through the second in impressive fashion, claiming a 6-4 6-0 victory to the delight of the home crowd.

The 2021 US Open champion has struggled with form and injuries in recent seasons, but said ahead of this week’s event that she was confident “good things are 100 per cent going to happen” after rekindling her love of tennis.

Raducanu, who has a wild card into Wimbledon next week, will play second seed Jessica Pegula – who received a bye – in the next round, while Katie Boulter is also through to the second round.

“It was a very close first set and I was down quite a bit all the way through and managed to break,” Raducanu said. “But it’s very difficult because Sloane is super athletic and, in the first set especially, she was making a lot of balls and counter-punching really well.

Raducanu missed the entire grass-court season last year following surgery on both wrists and one ankle, yet she showed little sign of any fitness troubles as she warmed up for Wimbledon in devastating fashion by building on her recent run to the semi-finals of Nottingham.