Emma Raducanu opened her grass court season with a comfortable 6-0 6-3 victory over Russian qualifier Anna Blinkova at the HSBC Championships in London.
The British number one was in action for the first time since her disappointing first-round French Open exit, looking for a first win since beating Anastasia Zakharova at Indian Wells in March.
In May the 23-year-old, who has cycled through a steady stream of coaches since winning the US Open as a 2021 qualifier, rehired Andrew Richardson, who had guided her to that triumph.
She has also suffered from the lingering impact of a post-viral illness, missing two and a half months of action before arriving in Paris, where she lost to Solana Sierra.
The Raducanu that emerged on Tuesday afternoon at the Queen’s Club painted a much brighter picture from that conciliatory day on clay, smiling, pumping her fist and dominating the first set, holding the world number 105 to just six points.
The Russian upped her game in the second set, breaking Raducanu twice as the British number one began to struggle with her serve, but Blinkova’s own difficulties returning soon put Raducanu in the position of serving for the match, and she wrapped up the win less than an hour after it started.
