17 Pictures as Emma Raducanu falls over at Eastbourne but recovers to advance against ‘super athletic’ opponent

Emma Raducanu delighted the Eastbourne centre court crowd by dispatching Sloane Stephens in straight sets in the first round of the Rothesay International.

The 21-year-old Briton delivered in style on her maiden outing at Devonshire Park, producing a string of eye-catching winners to triumph 6-4 6-0 in a big-hitting battle of former US Open champions.

Wildcard Raducanu fell over in the first set when she slipped on the grass by the baseline but recovered well and will now face second seed Jessica Pegula in round two. “It was a very close first set and I was down quite a bit all the way through and managed to break,” she said on court following victory. “But it’s very difficult because Sloane is super athletic and, in the first set especially, she was making a lot of balls and counter punching really well. It took a lot to try and hit through her but I managed to figure it out in the second set.”