Emma Raducanu dedicates win to father after fighting past Polona Hercog at Transylvania Open

The teenager stressed the significance of winning in ‘my dad’s country’

Emma Raducanu has said her first-round victory over Polona Hercog at the Transylvania Open had extra significance because it took place in “my dad’s country”.

Raducanu, whose father is Romanian, fought from a set down to beat her Slovenian opponent 4-6 7-5 6-1 on Tuesday.

It marked the 18-year-old’s first victory since her US Open triumph in September, and sets up a showdown between the British No 1 and Ana Bogdan – herself a Romanian.

“This means a lot to play in my dad’s country,” Raducanu said after beating Hercog, per the BBC. “It feels like a huge win.

“It is a shame there aren’t fans here, but I hope they were watching and I just wanted to do them proud.

“I was on a losing streak, so I am really pleased to have come through that. It’s my first win [since the US Open], I knew that in my head, so I was battling really hard to get on the board.

“I am really proud of how I fought. That is a big learning thing for me. The key was to try to stay mentally composed. I knew I wasn’t playing very well, so I just needed to keep going one point at a time and giving myself a chance by holding serve.”

Raducanu takes on Bogdan on Thursday, with a place in the quarter-finals of the Transylvania Open on the line.