Emma Raducanu reached the third round of the Australian Open for the first time in her career with a hard-fought win over American Amanda Anisimova.
The 22-year-old Briton won 6-3, 7-5, after coming from behind in both sets.
Raducanu, ranked 61st in the world, will now play Polish second seed Iga Swiatek in the next round.
The 2021 US Open champion struggled with a back injury during her preparations for the tournament and needed treatment twice during the match. Despite this, she managed to beat Anisimova, ranked 35th, in a match that saw 13 breaks of serve.
“Getting past the second round means a lot to me,” said Raducanu. “I was able to push through some pain.”
After the match, Raducanu mentioned that she and Andy Murray were on good terms following her withdrawal from their mixed doubles match at Wimbledon before his retirement last year.
Raducanu will face five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek in the third round on Saturday.
Swiatek, who has never made it past the semi-finals in Melbourne, easily beat Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova 6-0, 6-1 in just one hour.
