I received some pretty bad news – Emma Raducanu emotional after Eastbourne win
Amid blustery conditions, the British number one, who missed last week's Berlin Open as she managed a back problem, resumed her Wimbledon preparations with a 6-7 (5) 6-3 6-1 success.
Raducanu has been struggling with the issue since competing in Strasbourg before the French Open and took an off-court medical timeout during her quarter-final loss at Queen's Club earlier this month.
But, aside from a slip and fall on the grass in set one, she came through her opening examination at Devonshire Park unscathed.
The 2021 US Open champion produced an emotional response after sealing progression in two hours and 18 minutes with a fine backhand winner.
Asked about her reaction, Raducanu, 22, replied: 'I received some pretty bad news, so I would like to keep it personal, if that's OK?
'But it was difficult, very emotional at the end and probably just a release of different emotions.'
Victory over world number 64 Li sets up a second-round clash with 19-year-old Australian Maya Joint, who knocked out two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur on Monday.
'It was a physically demanding match,' said seventh seed Raducanu.
'It was pretty difficult and in the wind you are constantly trying to adjust. We had some long rallies, I was running a lot.
'I feel OK, a little bit of fatigue, a bit of stiffness, but I need to just see how I feel tomorrow.'
Earlier, Harriet Dart blew two match points on serve as she slipped to an agonising defeat to reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova.
Following two suspensions of play in the opening set due to wet weather, the British number four moved to the brink of one of the greatest wins of her career.
But Krejcikova, who defeated Jasmine Paolini in last year's Wimbledon final, survived a first-round shock by hitting back to progress 6-3 6-7 (4) 7-5 in two hours and 40 minutes.
The second seed will face another Briton in round two following Jodie Burrage's 6-3 6-2 win over Japan's Moyuka Uchijima.
Dart did little to hide her frustration at failing to capitalise on the pair of match-clinching opportunities against the 2021 French Open champion, letting out a piercing scream as the following game slipped away.
'Some crazy, crazy conditions today,' said the 28-year-old. 'I was pretty close. I missed a ball on match point and then she played a really good other point on my other match point and then she becomes a bit freer. It was a tough match overall.
'My level was 10 times better than I've played the last two weeks. For me that's more important, especially going to Wimbledon.
'Of course, I'd like to have won today. But I was also playing a very experienced, multiple grand slam winner.'
British number three Sonay Kartal lost 6-3 7-6 (2) to 2021 Eastbourne champion Jelena Ostapenko.
In the first round of the men's draw, Billy Harris won the battle of the Britons by upsetting Cameron Norrie 6-4 6-4.
British qualifier George Loffhagen lost 7-6 (6) 3-6 7-6 (1) to American Reilly Opelka, while Ilkley Open runner-up Jack Pinnington Jones went down 4-6 6-3 6-3 to Portuguese eighth seed Nuno Borges.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Carter: England looked scared in Euro 2025 defeat to France
After Alessia Russo's goal was disallowed on VAR review, the defending champions conceded two goals in the space of three minutes in the first-half, making their route to three points all the more difficult. Despite a late stirring of pressure that followed Keira Walsh's 87th minute strike from range, England fell to defeat - the first-ever for Sarina Wiegman at a major tournament. Starting left-back Carter, who was given the challenge of dealing with Delphine Cascarino, believes England were too concerned by their opponents heading into the match. 'We played like we looked scared today. We weren't aggressive enough. We worried about their threats in behind and what they could do rather than doing what we could do,' she explained. 'We didn't do as well on the ball or off the ball. I feel like the only positive to take is that last 10 minutes. 'For me, watching it from the side, I really believed that we would get a goal and I really felt that we could get a second goal. 'We have to focus on that 10 minutes that we did have at the end and take that into the next game.' Thanks for your fantastic support in Zürich and back home ❤️ Now it's time to recover and reset - we'll see you all on Wednesday, #Lionesses fans 👊 That final 10 minutes was inspired in part by the introduction of 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang in the 86th minute, and further spurred on by Walsh's consolation goal a minute later. The Chelsea midfielder collected the ball on the edge of the box from a corner before taking a touch and sublimely firing home for just her second England goal. But it was Agyemang who brought intent as a fourth attacker in place of centre-back Alex Greenwood, providing the travelling supporters with a reason to cheer in a grandstand finish. 'She's great. She's an incredible talent and, even better, she's an incredible person,' said Carter of the England youngster. 'Having someone like her to bring on, I think that we do have depth in our subs and the players that came on today really showed that and made a really big impact. 'I'm really happy that Michelle's in the squad because she's been a great asset for us.' The damage, however, was already done and the scoreline arguably flattered England. Sarina Wiegman's side struggled to get back into the game after Russo's goal had been ruled out for Beth Mead's offside in the build-up, though the margin was a matter of millimetres. What ensued was a series of misplaced passes, sloppy turnovers and squandered chances as the Lionesses struggled to regain a foothold in a game that France dominated. 'We all have days where we're having a bit of a mare on the ball and, unfortunately, today there was more than one player doing that,' reflected Carter. 'We all made a lot of mistakes today that we wouldn't normally make. As much as we need to go over it and make sure we do it better, there's also a lot of mistakes in there that were just uncharacteristic of the players to be making. 'The only thing that we can do is review it and try our best to work on those things in training and do better for the next game.' Doing better is now a must if England are to progress from the group stages. They have arguably the toughest billing of fixtures in the so-called 'group of death' as they face a Netherlands side on Wednesday buoyed by 3-0 victory over Wales. For Carter, though, despite the loss the task remains the same as it always has: win. 'I don't think [the aim] is any different than before the tournament started,' she said. 'We knew that we had to win games and we set out to win every single game and that doesn't change now. 'We go to the Netherlands and we try to win the same way we would have, even if we'd have won tonight.'
Glasgow Times
2 hours ago
- Glasgow Times
Carter: England looked scared in Euro 2025 defeat to France
After Alessia Russo's goal was disallowed on VAR review, the defending champions conceded two goals in the space of three minutes in the first-half, making their route to three points all the more difficult. Despite a late stirring of pressure that followed Keira Walsh's 87th minute strike from range, England fell to defeat - the first-ever for Sarina Wiegman at a major tournament. Starting left-back Carter, who was given the challenge of dealing with Delphine Cascarino, believes England were too concerned by their opponents heading into the match. 'We played like we looked scared today. We weren't aggressive enough. We worried about their threats in behind and what they could do rather than doing what we could do,' she explained. 'We didn't do as well on the ball or off the ball. I feel like the only positive to take is that last 10 minutes. 'For me, watching it from the side, I really believed that we would get a goal and I really felt that we could get a second goal. 'We have to focus on that 10 minutes that we did have at the end and take that into the next game.' Thanks for your fantastic support in Zürich and back home ❤️ Now it's time to recover and reset - we'll see you all on Wednesday, #Lionesses fans 👊 — Lionesses (@Lionesses) July 5, 2025 That final 10 minutes was inspired in part by the introduction of 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang in the 86th minute, and further spurred on by Walsh's consolation goal a minute later. The Chelsea midfielder collected the ball on the edge of the box from a corner before taking a touch and sublimely firing home for just her second England goal. But it was Agyemang who brought intent as a fourth attacker in place of centre-back Alex Greenwood, providing the travelling supporters with a reason to cheer in a grandstand finish. 'She's great. She's an incredible talent and, even better, she's an incredible person,' said Carter of the England youngster. 'Having someone like her to bring on, I think that we do have depth in our subs and the players that came on today really showed that and made a really big impact. 'I'm really happy that Michelle's in the squad because she's been a great asset for us.' The damage, however, was already done and the scoreline arguably flattered England. Sarina Wiegman's side struggled to get back into the game after Russo's goal had been ruled out for Beth Mead's offside in the build-up, though the margin was a matter of millimetres. What ensued was a series of misplaced passes, sloppy turnovers and squandered chances as the Lionesses struggled to regain a foothold in a game that France dominated. 'We all have days where we're having a bit of a mare on the ball and, unfortunately, today there was more than one player doing that,' reflected Carter. 'We all made a lot of mistakes today that we wouldn't normally make. As much as we need to go over it and make sure we do it better, there's also a lot of mistakes in there that were just uncharacteristic of the players to be making. 'The only thing that we can do is review it and try our best to work on those things in training and do better for the next game.' Doing better is now a must if England are to progress from the group stages. They have arguably the toughest billing of fixtures in the so-called 'group of death' as they face a Netherlands side on Wednesday buoyed by 3-0 victory over Wales. For Carter, though, despite the loss the task remains the same as it always has: win. 'I don't think [the aim] is any different than before the tournament started,' she said. 'We knew that we had to win games and we set out to win every single game and that doesn't change now. 'We go to the Netherlands and we try to win the same way we would have, even if we'd have won tonight.'
Rhyl Journal
3 hours ago
- Rhyl Journal
George Ford marks 100th Test cap by leading England to victory against Argentina
Alex Coles and debutant Seb Atkinson were shown yellow cards by referee Angus Gardner to temporary reduce Steve Borthwick's team to 13 men in La Plata, but after a superb regard defensive action, England were much improved after the break. Tom Roebuck grabbed a first try within two minutes of the restart and added another after Freddie Steward crossed over. Caden Murley concluded the scoring with five minutes left on a night where co-captain Ford showed his class on his 100th appearance for England. Off to a winning start in the Americas 👊#ARGvENG — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 5, 2025 All eyes were on Ford initially, but it was scrum-half Ben Spencer who did most of the kicking early on with a number of box kicks as Argentina dominated territory. Infringements were a regular occurrence from England and Coles was first to be sent to the sin-bin for a head-on-head contact with Facundo Isa. It was followed by rock-solid English defence led by co-captain Jamie George and after Santiago Carreras missed a simple penalty for Argentina, Ford landed a drop goal to conjure memories of his virtuoso display in the 2023 World Cup group stage. Atkinson followed Coles in being shown a yellow following a succession of team offsides, which reduced England to 13 men. 100 caps and counting for @George_Fordy 💯🌹🙌#ARGvENG — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 5, 2025 However, George again starred to keep Argentina at bay and while Ford missed another drop goal effort, it remained 3-0 at half-time. England started the second period with better intent and needed only 65 seconds to score the first try of the match. A fine carry by Ben Curry was followed by quick ball from Ford and Steward, who found Sale wing Roebuck and he crashed over on the right. Ford failed to add the extras, but quickly made amends with a superb pass to release his former Leicester team-mate Steward for England's second try. This time Ford kicked the conversion and the purple patch continued as Roebuck grabbed another in the 49th minute. 49' | DOUBLE TROUBLE 😎 Tom Roebuck has a brace in La Plata 🔥#ARGvENG — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) July 5, 2025 After being stopped just short of the try-line after a free-flowing move, Roebuck made no mistake second time around to help England move 22-0 ahead. Pablo Matera helped Argentina to produce an instant response and when Pedro Rubiolo finished off a superb team attack minutes later, the momentum had suddenly shifted. Borthwick turned to his bench as Guy Pepper was introduced for his Test debut, but fittingly it was Ford who took charge on his 100th international outing with two inch-perfect penalties – the second from near the halfway line. Harlequins wing Murley entered the fray with eight minutes later and wrapped up the scoring with an excellent finish before Ford kicked his third conversion to help England begin their summer tour in style.
