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British tennis watch: How did Emma Raducanu, Andy Murray fare on Tuesday?

British tennis watch: How did Emma Raducanu, Andy Murray fare on Tuesday?
© Reuters
Sports Mole rounds up Tuesday's British tennis action, including the performances of Emma Raducanu and Andy Murray.

Katie Boulter and Jack Draper were the big winners in Monday's grass-court action, and on Tuesday, it was the turn of two more celebrated Britons and former major winners to take to their beloved grass courts.

Having opted to skip the French Open and prioritise the grass-court season, Emma Raducanu's Nottingham Open first-round match against Japan's Ena Shibahara marked her first WTA Tour match since April's dismal Madrid Open defeat to Maria Lourdes Carle.

However, the 2021 US Open winner needed just one hour and 10 minutes to sink Shibahara 6-1 6-4 in Tuesday's first-round tie, although she had to hold off a late fightback from the Japanese.

At 5-1 up in the second set with a double break under her belt, Raducanu was broken twice while serving for the match, but Shibahara failed to hold serve in the 10th as the ex-British number one staved off that minor scare.

One day after Harriet Dart's gripes with the umpire in her loss to Boulter, though, Raducanu admitted that she felt like she was "playing two v one", referring to line calls that she felt were "all against" her.

Nevertheless, the world number 205 can now look ahead to Thursday's second-round showdown with Daria Snigur of Ukraine, and over in Stuttgart, Andy Murray commenced his grass-court season against Marcos Giron.

Andy Murray pictured at the Miami Open on March 24, 2024© Reuters

However, the two-time Wimbledon winner - who is expected to play at SW19 for the final time this year - could not replicate Raducanu's success, going down 3-6 4-6 to the 30-year-old in his first match since losing to Stanislas Wawrinka in his opening French Open tie.

Giron needed just 75 minutes to defeat Murray, who failed to convert any of the three break points he fashioned, while the American committed just seven errors and fired as many aces past his more experienced foe.

Elsewhere, current British number one Cameron Norrie posted a 6-1 4-6 6-3 success over Sho Shimabukuro in the Nottingham Challenger event, while Francesca Jones impressively overcame eighth seed Caroline Dolehide 7-6[3] 6-3 to advance to the second round in the WTA 250 event in the same city.

Which British tennis players are in action on Wednesday?

Giron's triumph against Murray in Stuttgart denied the former world number one an all-British second-round clash with Draper, who will bid to avenge his compatriot's defeat on Wednesday afternoon.

Back on home turf, Boulter continues her Nottingham title defence against Canada's Rebecca Marino, while Heather Watson faces Karolina Pliskova for the chance to potentially meet top seed Ons Jabeur in the quarter-finals.

In the men's challenger event, Dan Evans takes on compatriot Henry Searle in the second round, while Paul Jubb - who memorably took Nick Kyrgios to five sets at Wimbledon 2022 - faces Jacob Fearnley.

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Written by
Ben Knapton

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