BBC Sport
[Source: BBC Sport]
Emma Raducanu brushed aside Olga Danilovic at the Cincinnati Open to make a confident start with her new coach.
The British number one has added Rafael Nadal’s former coach Francis Roig to her team on a full-time basis as she prepares for the upcoming US Open.
And the surprise 2021 champion in New York cruised to a 6-3 6-2 win in her first match since the Spaniard came aboard.
Danilovic beat British number three Katie Boulter in the first round while Raducanu had a bye, and the Serbian number one broke Raducanu to love in the first game of Saturday’s match.
After four breaks of serve between the pair in the opening five games, Raducanu came from 30-0 down to grab another and make it 5-3.
The 22-year-old won seven points in a row to bring up three set points and took the first with an ace.
In the second set, Raducanu drew errors from her 24-year-old opponent and eventually earned a break for 3-2.
From that point the world number 39, ranked four spots higher than Danilovic, did not drop another game as she booked her spot in the third round in Ohio.
Raducanu is playing in the WTA 1,000 event for the first time since 2022 and could next face world number one Aryna Sabalenka, against whom she suffered a narrow Wimbledon defeat last month.
Earlier, Poland’s Iga Swiatek eased through to the last 32 as the Wimbledon champion claimed a 6-1 6-4 win over Russian Anastasia Potapova.
Australian Open champion Madison Keys of the United States saved two match points before beating Germany’s Eva Lys 1-6 6-3 7-6 (7-1).
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