Raducanu wins two tiebreaks to beat Alexandrova in Australian Open first round

A seeded opponent in the opening round

Emma Raducanu advanced at the Australian Open on 14 January 2025, winning both tiebreaks in a first-round match against Ekaterina Alexandrova. The result secured a second-round meeting with Amanda Anisimova. For the British player, Melbourne was also the start of her competitive season: her planned appearance in Auckland had been interrupted by a back problem, making this her first match of 2025.

The WTA match notes put the encounter in perspective. Raducanu was ranked No.61 and Alexandrova No.31, with the latter seeded 26th. Their scheduled Wimbledon meeting in 2024 had not taken place because Alexandrova withdrew. This was therefore their first completed tour meeting. Raducanu had reached the second round on all three previous Australian Open visits, while Alexandrova had three appearances in the last 32.

The tiebreaks provide the separation

Raducanu led by a break twice in the first set, at 3-1 and 4-2, but could not retain those advantages. Alexandrova then served for the set at both 5-4 and 6-5. Raducanu recovered each time. At 4-4 in the tiebreak, she won the remaining three points to take the opening set. The first-set second-serve figures underlined that difficulty: Raducanu won only three of 17 points behind that delivery, so her return games repeatedly kept the set alive.

The second set brought another interrupted opportunity. Raducanu reached 5-4 and 30-0 while serving for the match, only for serving errors to reopen the contest. She subsequently saved a set point while trailing 6-5. In the second tiebreak, she won the first six points and converted her third match point. Her 15 double faults explain why the scoreline was more complicated than a straightforward two-set win; the decisive passages explain why she nevertheless advanced.

A new physical preparation takes a first test

Australian Open reporting described the match as an early test of Raducanu’s work with strength and conditioning specialist Yutaka Nakamura. He had joined her team late in 2024 after she lost playing time to a foot injury. Her Auckland withdrawal, caused by back spasms, had added uncertainty before the opening major.

Raducanu said she felt fit during the match and physically well afterwards. Those comments were an immediate assessment of one outing, rather than evidence that the wider injury question had been settled. Her stated aim was to build the capacity to play a fuller schedule. Completing two demanding sets on Court 3 supplied an initial competitive checkpoint for that work.

A different challenge in round two

Anisimova had beaten María Lourdes Carlé in her opening match and would face Raducanu for the first time. The tournament’s preview noted that both players had returned to the top 100 after interrupted progress. Anisimova had reached the 2019 Roland Garros semifinals as a teenager, and Raducanu had won the 2021 US Open as a qualifier. Their next meeting would test two separate recoveries at Melbourne Park.