BNP Paribas Open: Emma Raducanu gaining momentum with back-to-back straight-set wins in Indian Wells

Looking healthier and happier than during her first-round win, Emma Raducanu made quick work of Magda Linette on Saturday, collecting a second consecutive straight-set win at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

Raducanu rallied from 4-1 down to win the first set in a tiebreaker and then rode the confidence gained by the comeback to earn an impressive 7-6(3), 6-2 win over the No. 20 seed Linette who made the Australian Open semifinal in January.

It's the first time Raducanu's won two consecutive matches at an event since September, and Linette is one of the highest-ranked players she's beaten since her remarkable U.S. Open title run in 2021.

Raducanu said she was not 100% during her first-round 6-2, 6-3 win over Danka Kovinic on Thursday, fighting through wrist injuries and even the repercussions of recent tonsillitis. On Saturday, out on Stadium 4, she looked fresher and played with more of a skip in her step.

"Yeah, I was really pleased to have won today. I was the other day, as well. But as I said, I was so out of it, I didn't really know what was going on, " she said. "But today, yeah, I was so pleased with the way I fought. Because Magda played, like, really high level. Yeah, I was, yeah, just very, very pleased with how I fought and dug in.

Her final shot was a forehand winner, which she punctuated with a fist pump. Raducanu, who burst on the scene with her remarkable 2021 U.S. Open victory, has not had a deep run at a major or Masters 1000 tournament like the BNP Paribas Open since.

Next up for Raducanu will be a round-of-32 match on Monday against the winner of Saturday's matchup between No. 13 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia and Katerina Siniakova.

Raducanu said she didn't have a lot of expectations coming into the event, now she's settling in.

"I mean, this tournament I had so little practice in the last few weeks, that really playing the matches has been a bonus and a win. I'm enjoying competing again," she said. "Yeah, I think this feeling of competition definitely beats, you know, being sick or injured or out. So I'm really just cherishing every time I get to step out on the match court."

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Emma Raducanu ousts Magda Linette in straight sets at Indian Wells