After undergoing ankle and wrist surgery in 2023 that prevented her from competing at Wimbledon, Raducanu’s last grass court match occurred 713 days ago on Tuesday.
Raducanu demonstrated her intent early on by breaking Shibahara in the opening game of her play at the location of her very first WTA encounter in 2021—months before her incredible run to the US Open championship.
While playing her first singles match on grass at the Tour level, Shibahara—who is mostly a doubles player and won the French Open mixed crown in 2022—failed to match Raducanu early on.
The British number six survived two break points and proceeded to win seven straight games to close out the first set and go into the second, only to be broken once more.
However, after taking a 5-1 lead into a double break, Raducanu’s performance began to falter as calls went against her.
She gave up the first break while serving for the match, but Shibahara held to love the next time.
Raducanu’s advantage from the second set was erased as the Japanese player broke again at the third attempt.
However, Raducanu secured her spot in the second round by winning her first match point on her opponent’s serve, putting an end to Shibahara’s comeback.
The Ukrainian defeated her countrywoman and second seed Marta Kostyuk 6-3 6-3 to advance to meet Daria Snigur.
