(Mike Egerton/PA Wire)
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Emma Raducanu defeated Ukraine's Daria Snigur to reach her first WTA Tour quarter-final on grass at the Rothesay Open in Nottingham.
The former US Open champion put in a solid performance in cool, windy conditions to triumph 6-2 6-2, with 11 aces proving very useful.
Raducanu had complained strongly about the line call in her first-round win over Ena Shibahara, and there were a few more disputes here, with several overrules taking place and both players expressing their dissatisfaction.
She struggled to find her range and timing in the first few matches against the 22-year-old Snigur, who is ranked 127th and is adept on grass after winning the junior title at Wimbledon five years ago.
Raducanu, who was then able to meet close friend Francesca Jones, fell 2-0 behind but immediately recovered the break and a hard hold in the next game proved a key moment.
She played six games in a row to take the first set and then broke again after a double fault from Snigur in the third game of the second.
She had to save two break points at 3-2, with her serve again coming to the rescue, but broke again in the next game before sealing victory after an hour and 19 minutes.
"It was an extremely difficult match," said Raducanu. "I knew even before I came on the field that I had to be there today, because Daria is a very good player, especially on the field.
"I'm really happy with the way I did it, especially in the beginning, and got through it."
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Emma Raducanu showed some of her best tennis, and certainly her best serve, producing at least 10 aces during the two-set match.
Daria Snigur played well and is used to playing on grass, but after losing the first two games of the match, Raducanu fought back to win six in a row and take the first set.
In the second, she started the same way she ended the first, consistently trying to attack the Snigur serve, and was rewarded with an important victory for what had been an injury for a few years.
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Raducanu produces another serve to take the game to deuce and then sets match point, but she misses an attempted backhand winner on the crosscourt, and the game goes back to deuce.
Snigur has another break opportunity to save the match, and again the match is saved by Raducanu.
The Brit has a second match point, and again Snigur saves it, coming to the net with a volley winner.
Raducanu scores a third match point, and this time she takes it! Raducanu delivers a wide forehand and Snigur cannot get the ball back.
The British player is in the quarter-finals of the Nottingham Open.
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Raducanu serves for the match and takes the first point, but Snigur produces a backhand down the line to level the match at 15-15.
Snigur leads at 15-30, and she's not out of here yet, but another big ace from Raducanu, straight in and the game is level.
Raducanu puts too much into a backhand and it leaves her a little flat-footed to reach another backhand winner from Snigur, to set up a break point.
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Snigur takes the first point on Raducanu's serve, and the applause from the fans is slightly more muted, but the Brit is level after a relatively long basic rally.
Raducanu produces a stunning backhand to score a winning point across the board, and that deserves a fist pump!
Snigur has a break point at 30-40, after one just slipped away from Raducanu, but the Brit produces a big serve and brings the game to deuce.
But Snigur plays the ball down the line after Raducanu was caught between the lines after coming in for a drop shot, and will have a second break point.
Again, it's saved by a big serve from Raducanu, and a backhand slice to follow up gives her the game point, and she takes the game with another wide serve, her 10th ace.
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Snigur takes the first point, but after an argument with the referee when her serve was called out, she has to set herself up.
A wild forehand where the net pushes the ball back into the court sends the server up 30-0, and then to three game points.
Raducanu just gets a racket from that and Snigur loves it!
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