Impressive Raducanu brings GB level against France

Emma Raducanu produced a superb comeback to beat Caroline Garcia and level Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifying tie against France.

Raducanu grew in confidence as she beat world number 28 Garcia 3-6 6-3 6-2 on the clay court in Le Portel.

Anne Keothavong’s side had been on the back foot after British number one Katie Boulter earlier suffered a chastening 6-2 6-0 loss to Diane Parry.

The best-of-five tie concludes on Saturday.

Raducanu’s well-documented injury struggles have limited her time on the clay, as well as her appearances for her country.

She trailed former world number four Garcia by a set and a break before things truly clicked into place for her, with her serve, forehand and a series of blistering returns helping her out.

Despite an entertaining moment where Raducanu started to celebrate victory before realising the score was only 5-1, the 21-year-old looked dialled in and, crucially, still fresh as she sealed a hard-fought victory.

Raducanu said afterwards: “I don’t know what happened. It was quite embarrassing!

“All I was thinking was: If I lose this, I’m going to look a right muppet. So I’m very happy I managed to pull it through.”

The hope for Britain now will be that she is able to replicate her form in tomorrow’s reverse singles, with the winner of the tie advancing to November’s finals.

This was, by some distance, Raducanu’s best performance on clay – and arguably one of her best of the year against a high-quality opponent.

Garcia, an experienced BJK Cup campaigner, was on top in the opening stages, often producing big, brave shots whenever Raducanu looked to be working her way into her service game.

The two traded breaks in the first set before Garcia closed it out, and she quickly went up a break in the second before Raducanu upped her own aggression.

She stepped in to return serve, firing the ball back at Garcia, and reeled off six of the final seven games to take the match to a deciding set.

Raducanu targeted Garcia’s backhand in the third set, with Garcia bouncing her racquet off the red clay in frustration as the Briton went an early break up.

The partisan crowd did their best to rally Garcia, who looked emotional towards the end, but Raducanu coped well with the noise, closing out all the distractions before wrapping up the match with a smash at the net.

Given she will likely be called on again tomorrow to play Parry, Raducanu now faces the challenge of maintaining her fitness and her intensity for a second day running.

“I was definitely the underdog going out here in [Garcia’s] own house, on clay,” Raducanu said.

“That was a really good test for myself because I haven’t had those level matches very often.”

More to follow.