Strasbourg roundup: Raducanu earns first win over Kasatkina in four tries

A jam-packed Monday on the WTA 500 Internationaux de Strasbourg center court ended with Emma Raducanu's first victory over Daria Kasatkina.

In their three previous meetings, Great Britain's Raducanu had never won a set off of new Australian resident Kasatkina. But the Brit was sharp and powerful at the clay-court event and ousted No. 6 seed Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 in 1 hour and 19 minutes.

A wild card making her Strasbourg debut, Raducanu was aggressive on return from the very first game and quickly built up a head of steam. She took the one-set lead in just 29 minutes.

The second set was tighter as both players struggled on serve, but Raducanu held in the first game and stayed ahead from there, while the players traded breaks for the next seven games. 

At 5-3, Raducanu got her second hold of the set, but not without a struggle. She saw her first three match points slip away and faced a break point in that tough game. The Brit found some solid serves to get to her fourth match point, and she closed out victory with one last strong forehand. Kasatkina never held serve in the match.

Raducanu continues her career-best form on clay. Last week in Rome, Raducanu made the Round of 16 -- it was the first time she had ever posted three consecutive clay-court wins at WTA main-draw level.

As for Kasatkina, it has been an up-and-down year results-wise. Kasatkina has not won back-to-back matches since February and has seen her ranking dip from 2024 year-end No. 9 to its current position of No. 17.

Here are more results from Monday's first-round action on Court Patrice Dominguez:

Danielle Collins def. Sofia Kenin 6-1, 1-6, 6-2

In an all-American clash between former Top 10 players, 2022 Australian Open finalist Collins took 1 hour and 39 minutes to overcome 2020 Australian Open champion Kenin.

Collins was a finalist here in Strasbourg last year -- her most recent final. She finished as 2024 runner-up to another American, Madison Keys.

Collins will face another former Top 10 player in the second round -- Raducanu. They have never faced each other.

[9] Beatriz Haddad Maia def. Clara Tauson, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5

Brazil's Haddad Maia squeaked into the second round, saving two match points at 5-4 in the third set before reeling off the final three games of the match to prevail.

Haddad Maia inherited a seeded spot after No. 5 seed Elina Svitolina withdrew from the main draw due to a lower back injury. It set up an intriguing battle between the Brazilian and Tauson, the highest-ranked unseeded player.

The tightly contested affair lived up to the billing, and Haddad Maia needed a grueling 2 hours and 44 minutes before outlasting the Dane.

In the second round, Haddad Maia will have her first career meeting with American Ashlyn Krueger, who beat her compatriot McCartney Kessler 6-4, 7-5 on Monday. 

[LL] Marie Bouzkova def. [WC] Alizé Cornet 6-2, 6-1

Bouzkova was the No. 2 seed in qualies but fell to Caroline Dolehide in the final round. The Czech got a second chance, entering the main draw as a lucky loser, and she took advantage of the opportunity.

Bouzkova bested Cornet in 90 minutes, converting all six of her break points while only dropping serve once. Bouzkova will now face No. 3 seed Paula Badosa in the second round. 

Unfortunately for Bouzkova, Badosa has won all three of their previous meetings, including last year's WTA 500 Washington D.C. final. However, this will be their first clay-court meeting.

As for former World No. 11 Cornet, this was just her third event back after a year-long retirement -- and her first on home soil.