Nottingham tournament | Emma Raducanu expeditious for her return to grass

(Nottingham) The British Emma Raducanu, who skipped Roland-Garros to better prepare for Wimbledon, did not delay to beat the Japanese Ena Shibahara  6-1, 6-4 in 70 minutes, Tuesday in the first round of the WTA 250 tournament in Nottingham.

Falling to 209th in the world, Raducanu, winner of the 2021 US Open, was playing her first match on grass since the 2022 edition of Wimbledon.

“It’s been several weeks since I last played competitively, so I really didn’t know how it was going to go,” said the Briton, whose last match was at the Madrid tournament (1st round defeat on April 24). ).

Raducanu, who led 6-1, 5-1, had a slight slump at the very end of the match, giving in twice in a row. Without consequence.

The young Briton, 21, will face the Ukrainian Daria Snigur (127th), junior title holder at Wimbledon, for a place in the quarter-finals.