(Tennis news) US Open winner Emma Raducanu won the opening match of the Transylvania Open in Cluj against Slovenia’s Polona Hercog 4-6 7-5 6-1. The World Number 23 showed grit and determination to comeback from a 4-6 deficit in the first set to swing the momentum in her favor, showing glimpses of her form that she famously displayed in the United States.

Raducanu can consider the Transylvania Open as almost her home venue, considering it’s where her father was born and grandmother still lives. She started her match against Hercog brightly, controlling the first set 4-1 but the Slovenian displayed her experience in fine fashion to level the set 4-4. Raducanu then began employing a more defensive tactic which backfired on the 18 year old as Hercog went on to win the fourth game and eventually won the first set.

Raducanu struggled to break down Hercog in the second set too, but did well against the Slovenian with a solid hold of serve in the opening game. The 18 year old maintained the intensity that worked for her initially in the first set, her pace and power eventually paid dividends as Raducanu won eight out of her last nine games to progress into the next round.

After the match, Raducanu in a press conference said “I feel really happy to have won that match. It was very difficult and I wasn't playing my best tennis but Polona is a great opponent, she's really experienced, so I really had to fight hard to pull that one through. I thought by the end of the third set I was playing some better tennis and the most important thing was I earned another opportunity to play better in the next round.”

Raducanu will face Ana Bogdan in the next round of the Transylvania Open and the 18 year old said “I know Ana a little bit. We spoke off court and she was really nice and friendly, I've never played against her and she's obviously a great opponent but I've not seen much of her.”

In other results, Cameron Norrie achieved his seventh win in a row by defeating Marton Fucsovics at the Erste Bank Open. Norrie was playing his first match since winning the Indian Wells and won against his Hungarian opponent 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.

Also read: Andy Murray plays spoilsport to Hubert Hurkacz’s chances at the year end championship