Emma Raducanu sealed a fine first-round win at the Australian Open by defeating Thailand’s world No 195 Mananchaya Sawangkaew on opening Sunday.

Raducanu, who only arrived in Melbourne on Friday after reaching the quarter-finals of the Hobart International, was forced to scramble to get ready for the tournament.

But after a slow start she rattled off 10 of the next 11 games to storm to a 6-4 6-1 victory against the diminutive Thai debutante on Margaret Court Arena.

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The result ended a perfect first day for British players, with Cameron Norrie and qualifier Arthur Fery both making the second round in the men’s singles.

“I feel very happy to have gotten through that match,” said Raducanu, speaking on court after her win.

“From the beginning, she was playing incredibly well – all of her returns and shots seemed to be dropping on the baseline.

“It made life very difficult and so I’m really proud of how I fought back in the first set.

“She played some incredible tennis, way higher than her ranking is currently and I’m sure she’s going to do good things this year.”

The 23-year-old has once again battled physical issues during pre-season, with a foot injury severely limiting her time on court, and she looked short of match sharpness in a clash with Maria Sakkari at the United Cup last week, while she beat Camila Osorio in the opening round in Hobart but then lost to world No 204 Taylah Preston.

Sawangkaew, making her Grand Slam debut, already has a lower-level title to her name this season and she made a lightning-quick start and was two break points away from a 4-1 lead in the opening set.

But Raducanu found her rhythm and surges through the next seven games before Sawangkaew stopped the rot.

The British No 1 has achieved her goal of being seeded at a Grand Slam again and she bossed her opponent with encouraging signs in a greater weight of shot.

She clinched her first match point with an ace to make it a flawless 5-0 in first-round matches at the Australian Open.

Much stiffer tests await with world No 55 Anastasia Potapova up next in the second round with a potential third-round clash against world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

Potapova came through against Netherlands’ Suzan Lamens 3-6 7-5 6-2.

Speaking about the time she first stepped on a big arena at Wimbledon in the same year as her US Open win in 2021, Raducanu said: “I was incredibly nervous but at the same time I had such a great run and it set up such amazing memories for me.

“It’s one of my most fond memories of a tournament. It’s very nerve-wracking, especially playing straight away on a big stadium. She did really well to come out of the blocks firing. I was so impressed.”

She was also surprised to learn her new nickname: “Rado apparently is my new nickname.”

She cut a happy figure afterwards in her press conference, saying of her start: “I actually didn’t feel particularly bad in terms of doing much wrong. I thought she was serving incredibly well, better than I probably expected going on to the court. Returns were dropping very deep on the line a couple of times early on.

“That puts a lot of pressure on straightaway. Maybe I made a few errors thinking I had to do a bit too much early on. I was still looking for the forehand, doing the right things.

“I was just very happy with how I kept competing. It was a really important game (at 1-3) to hold.

“After that I think it was a combination of me finding my feet, my movement, dominating a bit more, and also a few errors from her. I ended up having a pretty good run of games. I’m really proud of myself.”

Keothavong ‘worried’ by Raducanu’s slow start

Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup captain Anne Keothavong, on TNT Sports, said she still had some concerns despite Raducanu’s round:

“I must admit, I was slightly worried after the first few games,” she said.

“At 3-1 and 15-40 down, something clicked for Emma. Up until that point, she hadn’t won a single point behind her opponent’s first serve.

“But from then on, everything changed and it was all about Emma. Once she got on top of her opponent, she really steamrolled her and there was only ever going to be one winner.

“Once she figured out her opponent and loosened up, she was really able to let rip!”

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