Raducanu had to show some serious grit to secure a return to winning ways, having not tasted success on court since July 31, which coincidentally also came against Stearns.
With the 2021 US Open champion running out a 7-6 (8) 6-2 victor last time around at the Mubadala Citi DC Open in Washington, her opponent proved much tougher to beat on this occasion.
Despite getting off to a strong start by breaking Stearns in the opening game, Raducanu then struggled to capitalise on this, with the first set producing eight breaks of serve.
And things didn’t get any easier after that, as Raducanu was broken whilst serving for the match at 5-3, before Stearns then missed a chance to go level when she failed to hold her serve when 6-5 up.
After this, the British star refused to let go, sealing the second set and victory on another tie-break after 89 minutes of play in a gruelling encounter.
The marathon clash was the second-longest straight-sets match of 2024 so far, falling just shy of Sara Sorribes Tormo’s victory over Victoria Azarenka in the Madrid Open which lasted 2 hours and 50 minutes.
And the 21-year-old later admitted to being pleased with how she handled the tough conditions to earn the win.
Speaking on court after the match, she said: “I’m proud to have made it through to the next round. It was tough and very humid.
