“I enjoy the challenge of continuously coming back and getting back up,” Emma Raducanu reflects on her poor form over the past year
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Emma Raducanu
World No. 10 Emma Raducanu is the second seed at the upcoming 2022 Citi Open in Washington, the first WTA-250 competition of August in advance of the 2022 US Open. As the current US Open champion, Raducanu will have a difficult task on her shoulders this month as she must defend 2000 points. If the British player struggles in the US Open, she can drop out of the Top 100.
When she takes the court in DC for the Citi Open, her journey will begin in the capital city. As she makes her way to New York for the Grand Slam, Raducanu will be anxious to achieve some noteworthy victory. Given that Emma’s best results have come on hard courts, strong performances can be anticipated from her, and with two straight WTA-1000 events after the Citi Open, she may be able to dramatically raise her ranking.
Emma Raducanu opens up on sustaining her level of play after winning her first major
In response to a question regarding her 2021 US Open form, Emma Raducanu said, “There were times for sure that I was coming out with some outrageous shots. Sometimes in your career you feel like everything is automatic, you can go for whatever shot you want and it’s going to land. Those weeks don’t come by very often. You might have one or two a year. For me, I was lucky that I had three like pretty much when it mattered really”.
The idea of “close to perfection” is not how Raducanu often thinks about it because the British player won 10 games in three weeks, including qualifying, to take home the trophy. “I wasn’t always playing perfect tennis. Like in my qualifying, I remember scrapping through some, my second-round qualifying match (against Bolkvadze), and in my fourth round, I remember I was so nervous in the first set and didn’t necessarily feel like I was playing great, but it’s definitely a lot about holding your nerve on those sort of matches in big courts”, she added.
Reflecting on her career, Raducanu said she had not anticipated having to play tennis at such a high level every week, but she has come to terms with it.
“To be honest, I don’t think I was expecting to play US Open tennis every single week, because I knew myself I was so zoned out that I was playing really, really well, some of my best tennis. But I’d say even though maybe in the beginning of the year I was saying, Look, like, doesn’t matter, no pressure, I think that I didn’t necessarily buy into it as much as I probably do now. I think that it took me a while, but right now I most enjoy the challenge of continuously coming back and getting back up,” said the 19-year-old Raducanu.
Also read: WATCH: Emma Raducanu displays her table tennis skills while competing at the Citi Open
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