Emma Raducanu overcomes frustrating weather delays to advance in Korea Open

The opening-round win sees Raducanu advance to the last 16, with her next match scheduled against Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejčíková.

The contest had been scheduled for Tuesday but was postponed due to rain, with more wet weather causing a second delay today.

But the weather didn’t stop the 22-year-old tennis star from sealing a 6-3, 6-4 win, seeing off Cristian, who is ranked eight places lower at 41.

In her on-court interview, Raducanu said: “I’m super happy to have won today. It hasn’t been easy, I feel like I’ve played this match the last three days. To have pulled through after waiting, I’m super pleased with how I came through.

"Jaqueline is a really tough opponent and had great results recently. Tough conditions, very slow, long rallies and long points, so happy to have got through.”

Read more: Emma Raducanu pulls out of Britain's Billie Jean King Cup team to play WTA event in Korea

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The first-set score did not tell the full story, with the nine games taking 70 minutes and Raducanu saving 11 of 12 break points, battling back from 3-1 down with a run of five games in a row.

Cristian hit substantially more winners, but Raducanu, who served six double faults, again dug in in the second set, twice fighting back from a break down to eventually clinch victory.

The win comes after Raducanu controversially chose to pull out of Great Britain’s team for this week’s Billie Jean King Cup finals, instead accepting a wildcard entry into the Korea Open in an attempt to boost her ranking.

Responding to Raducanu’s decision, GB captain, Anne Keothavong, said: “It’s obviously disappointing but I want the main focus to be on the players I have and the challenge we have ahead.”

Elsewhere, Cameron Norrie suffered a shock 6-7 (3), 6-4, 7-6 (2) loss at the Chengdu Open against Zhou Yi, the 304th-ranked Chinese wildcard, with the 20-year-old saving a match point.