ASSOCIATED PRESS
MELBOURNE, Australia -- For Emma Raducanu, winning in the first round at the the Australian Open was always going to be more important than how she achieved the result.
That was clear Tuesday when the 2021 U.S. Open champion celebrated her 7-6 (4), 7-6 (2) win over No. 26-seeded Ekaterina Alexandrova out on Court 3, where a scattering of British flags fluttered in a light breeze on Day 3 at Melbourne Park.
In her first match since November, the 22-year-old British player served 15 double-faults, made 30 unforced errors and won just 30% of points on her second serve. But she was good enough in the big moments, with 22 winners and nine aces, to claw her way into the second round.
Because she wasn't playing competitively, the biggest news about her back home was her minor back trouble earlier this month and the fact she refused treatment for ant bites last week -- just to be on the safe side in terms of medication that might run her afoul of anti-doping regulations.
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Alexandrova served for the first set, which contained eight service breaks, but Raducanu broke back immediately.
In the second set, Raducanu led 4-2 but then lost control of her serve again and needed to save a set point before forcing another tiebreaker, which she dominated.
Raducanu raced to a 6-0 lead in the breaker and, with too much of a lead to worry, held her nerve to clinch her first win of 2025.
Since becoming the first player to win a Grand Slam title after going through qualifying, Raducanu hasn't been past the fourth round of a major. She has reached the third round for the last three years in Australia.
She'll next play Amanda Anisimova, who had a 6-2, 6-3 win over Maria Carle.
Ninth-seeded Daria Kasatkina was the first through on Day 3, dropping the first game before winning the next seven straight enroute to a 6-1, 6-3 win over Viktoriya Tomova.
In early men's results, No. 19 Karen Khachanov advanced over Adrian Mannarino, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 6-3, and 2022 semifinalist Matteo Berrettini beat Cameron Norrie 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-1, 6-3.
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