Emma Raducanu ‘looks really good’ claims former British No.1
Emma Raducanu has been praised by former British No.1 Laura Robson, who believes that the 2021 US Open champion is hitting the ball as well as ‘anyone’.
Raducanu, who is the current British No.1, had a disrupted start to her 2023 season with injuries and illness preventing her from attempting to climb back up the rankings.
However, upon return to the WTA tour in Indian Wells Raducanu impressed by getting her highest ranked win since her ‘fairytale in New York’, over No.13 Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the fourth round.
The 20-year-old could not follow this up in Miami, where she lost in the first round to fellow US Open champion Bianca Andreescu, but Robson is optimistic about Raducanu’s year so far.
“Emma’s level is there for sure. She hits the ball just as well as any of the top players on tour,” said Robson.
Robson continued, “But it’s just finding the right balance on the training side of things, on the match court and tournament schedule side of things to make it work for the body because everyone is different, everyone requires different amount of matches as well.”
“I think if she’s just able to get another couple of consistent weeks under her belt, then the belief will come and you start to trust your body a bit more and you start to then not worry about some small injuries because it’s just part of being a tennis player.”
Robson, who knows all too well about injuries having been forced to retire last year at the age of 28, is not too worried about Raducanu’s various fitness issues.
“I can’t think of anyone on tour who ever feels 100% healthy all the time, so Emma’s just seeming to find that balance at the moment. She’s been on a practice court in the UK at Wimbledon and looks good, she looks really good,” claimed Robson.
Raducanu is next expected to play on the indoor clay of Stuttgart, beginning the 17th April, where she reached the quarter-finals last year.
While the No.68 has admitted clay is not her favourite surface, Robson believes that Raducanu has what it takes to compete on the dirt.
“I actually think she’s pretty good on clay anyway. Last year she went into the season thinking ‘it’s just going to be a bit of a learning experience for me,'” said the London 2012 mixed doubles silver medallist.
“You could tell that she was trying new things on the clay court, trying to add a little bit more spin to her forehand side.”
Robson added, “But she played well in Madrid, she won a couple of matches there, she had some good result and you feel like maybe that’s the kind of court that’s going to suit her game the most.”
Emma Raducanu record on clay
Raducanu played her first clay season on the WTA tour last year, and these were her results:
Emma Raducanu overall win-loss record in 2022: 17-19 (47.2%)
Emma Raducanu win-loss record on clay in 2022: 6-5 (54.5%)
BJK Cup Qualifier vs Czech Republic (Prague)
Raducanu beat Tereza Martincova, 7-5 7-5
Marketa Vondrousova beat Raducanu, 6-1 6-1
Stuttgart 2022
First Round – Raducanu (8) beat Storm Hunter (Q), 6-1 6-2
Second Round – Raducanu (8) beat Tamara Korpatsch (LL), 6-0 2-6 6-1
Quarter-final – Iga Swiatek (1) beat Raducanu (8), 6-4 6-4
Madrid 2022
First Round – Raducanu (9) beat Tereza Martincova, 7-6(3) 6-0
Second Round – Raducanu (9) beat Marta Kostyuk (WC), 6-2 6-1
Third Round – Anhelina Kalinina beat Raducanu (9), 6-2 2-6 6-4
Rome 2022
First Round – Bianca Andreescu beat Raducanu (10), 6-2 2-1 (retired)
Roland Garros 2022
First Round – Raducanu (12) beat Linda Noskova (Q), 6(4)-7 7-5 6-1
Second Round – Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat Raducanu (12), 3-6 6-1 6-1
Wimbledon ✅
US Open ✅
Australian Open ✅
Roland Garros ✅Emma Raducanu now has a win at every Grand Slam. pic.twitter.com/v0keLmFduJ
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) May 23, 2022
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