Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu extended her Grand Slam winning streak to 11 matches thanks to a three-set win over Sloane Stephens at Australian Open 2022 on Tuesday.
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In a late-night battle between major champions, Raducanu notched her first win of the season, and booked her place in the second round at Melbourne Park, thanks to a 6-0 2-6 6-1 win over the US Open winner of 2017.
The build-up
Both Raducanu and Stephens had interrupted lead-ins ahead of their highly-anticipated clash.
Raducanu tested positive for COVID in mid-December and did not practice for almost three weeks, pulling out of the season-opening tournament in Melbourne due to being underdone.
Shortly after Raducanu emerged from isolation, Stephens married long-time partner Jozy Altidore in a New Years Day ceremony in Miami Beach, and as a result, played no tune-up events prior to AO 2022.
MORE: AO 2022 women's singles draw
At the one Raducanu did play, at last week's Sydney Tennis Classic, she was humbled 6-0 6-1 in the first round by Elena Rybakina.
Both play a majestic brand of tennis when at the top of their games, but it was unclear what level either would attain given such limited preparation.
How the match unfolded
It was clear Raducanu had come along in leaps and bounds following the Rybakina loss.
She scorched a winner on the very first point and celebrated loudly – a statement of intent.
Striking sweetly, Raducanu won the first six points of the match and ultimately allowed Stephens just four points for the entire set, which she won in 17 minutes.
After a compelling opening game of the second set featuring five deuces, former world No.3 Stephens eventually got on the board.
Stephens was gradually finding her range, extending points, and erring less. She broke for a 2-0 lead, and although Raducanu broke back and levelled at 2-2, the American expertly blended defence and attack to roll through the next four games uninterrupted.
But Raducanu wrested control of the third.
Securing an important hold in the first game, she let out a huge celebration and had the crowd in her corner.
She became increasingly aggressive, both with her returns and from the baseline, and roared to a 5-0 lead.
Two games later, she calmly, yet forcefully, served out the match.
"I think both me and Sloane put everything out there and gave it all we had, and I thought it was a really high-quality match, with some very long rallies," Raducanu said on court.
"I'm very happy to have come through against such a great champion like her."
The key stat
Stephens was the first major champion Raducanu had faced in her career.
And when the American sealed the second set with a forehand winner, Raducanu found herself contesting a third set for the first time ever in a Grand Slam main-draw match.
"Of course there was going to be some adversity, and the long rallies she was just edging through with her defence. So I'm happy to have regrouped in the third set," Raducanu reflected.
"I don't think the score really reflected the level out there."
What it means for the loser
Despite showing glimpses of the form that took her to two major finals and the top five, Stephens continues to find consistent success elusive.
And because she is yet to regain that consistency, her ranking has hovered outside the top 50 for almost a year.
It means she is always vulnerable to drawing quality high-ranked players – like Raducanu – in the early rounds of Slams.
While she has beaten some of them, including Karolina Pliskova at Roland Garros, Petra Kvitova at Wimbledon and Coco Gauff at the US Open, all last year, she was unable to unseat another at Australian Open 2022.
What next for the winner?
Raducanu progresses to a second-round meeting with Montenegro's Danka Kovinic, a three-set winner over South Korean qualifier Jang Su-jeong earlier on Tuesday.
In her short Grand Slam career, the teenager remains undefeated in first-round matches and will attempt to continue her winning ways against the world No.98.
With that all-important first win of the season under Raducanu's belt, it might be enough of a tension release to allow her to properly unfurl the fluid groundstrokes that took her to the second week at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
If that's the case, the rest of the field will be wary.