EMMA RADUCANU dazzled in her first-ever professional clay-court match – despite her hilarious gloomy prediction.
The teenage sensation incredibly reached the Wimbledon fourth round and WON the US Open before a senior match on the red stuff.
Raducanu, 19, appeared for Great Britain in the Billie Jean King Cup away against the Czech Republic.
And she battled past world No50 Tereza Martincova 7-5 7-5 in Prague.
That was despite jokingly saying preparation on the clay was “going well” before bursting out laughing ahead of her debut on the surface and even and lost her toenails in training.
Raducanu’s last tennis match on clay came in French Open juniors nearly four years ago.
READ MORE
But the crucial victory levelled up the tie at 1-1 after Harriet Dart was thrashed 6-1 6-0 in 55 minutes by Marketa Vondrousova.
So it leaves it evenly poised going into the reverse singles on Saturday with a potential doubles decider if needed with Raducanu up against Olympic silver medallist and former French Open finalist Vondrousova first.
The Czechs are the reigning champions but know they face a tricky task to get past the Brits and secure qualification for the finals in November.
World No12 Raducanu said: “This one means so much to me.
“Playing on clay definitely took some adjusting, even now.
“The conditions were very windy and some bad bounces, so to adjust and adapt in the situation was very challenging but I’m very proud of how I dug in.
“In the beginning of the second set, I went a bit flat and everyone in my team was telling me the intensity had dropped.
“It is difficult to regain that but I’m very happy I did in the end.”
Rads learned as she went on the clay, saving a set point after dropping serve in the eighth game and taking the first set with a run of three straight games.
She has shown a tendency to dip physically in the second sets of matches this season and was two breaks down at 0-3 and 1-4 in blustery conditions at the historic Cesky club, positioned on an island in the Vltava river.
Read More on SE
But Martincova was clearly feeling the occasion and Raducanu demonstrated her battling spirit once again to fight back, winning six of the last seven games.
This will certainly be a morale-boosting result for the Bromley ace – it is just the third win she has managed this season and Martincova is the highest-ranked player she has beaten since her semi-final victory over Maria Sakkari at Flushing Meadow.
