Emma Raducanu has progressed through to the quarter-finals at the Transylvania Open.
The US Open champion followed up her maiden win on the WTA Tour over Polona Hercog with a battling 6-3 6-4 straight sets defeat of home favourite Ana Bogdan in Thursday afternoon’s last-16 clash in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
The victories are 18-year-old Raducanu’s first since she stunned the world of sport at Flushing Meadows last month by becoming the first British female singles Grand Slam winner for 44 years.
She was also the first qualifier in the Open Era to win a major, but followed up that stunning triumph with an early exit at the hands of Aliaksandra Sasnovich at Indian Wells and withdrawing from the Kremlin Cup in Russia.
Raducanu - who is confident of having a new coach in place before the Australian Open after splitting from Andrew Richardson following her success in New York - will face 19-year-old Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk in the last eight at the Transylvania Open.
“It was so good to play a Romanian here,” said Raducanu, whose father is Romanian and with her for this tournament.
“There are no fans, unfortunately, but there are all the volunteers who make this tournament possible and I loved playing with some noise again, against Ana who is a great opponent.
“I think it’s taking me some time to find my feet still. I’m learning from every match I play and I don’t think I’m the finished product yet, but I’m learning and I’m loving my time at this tournament.”
Raducanu also revealed that she has now donated her US Open trophy to the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) as a sign of gratitude.
“I just thought the LTA had done so much for me and I just wanted them to have it as a sign for everything they had done for me. It’s a little gift,” she added.
