Emma Raducanu ‘trying to take the title home’ after reaching first grass court Quarter-final
Emma Raducanu has progressed to her first grass court quarter-final at the Nottingham Open, with the Brit appearing to lap up the home support.
Raducanu beat Ukrainian Daria Snigur, 6-2 6-2, to win back-to-back matches on grass for the first time since breaking onto the scene at Wimbledon in 2021.
Speaking on court after the match, Raducanu reflected on her victory, “It was an extremely tricky match. Honestly, I knew from before I came on I need to be on it today because Daria is a really good player and grass court player especially.
“She won junior Wimbledon, I played with her in the juniors growing up so I know how tricky she is to play. I’m very happy with how I managed it, especially in the beginning, and came through.”
Raducanu initially found herself an early break down in the first set, but won 12 of the next 14 games to beat the 2019 Wimbledon girls champion.
And the 21-year-old spoke about the pressure of keeping yourself ahead in matches, “Tennis, I feel like, is a game of momentum and you really have to capitalise when you’re feeling the run. Whether that’s games in a row, whether that’s matches in a row, whether that’s tournaments in a row.”
She continued, “Wins and games are really hard to come by so when you’re up, you really have to stay on it. You almost have this feeling that ‘something’s going to go wrong, something’s going to go wrong’ but it’s just trying to shut that one out and keep going with the tactics and do whatever you can to just get your nose ahead.”
Last year saw Katie Boulter claim the Nottingham Open title, and Raducanu revealed that she is hoping to keep the title in Britain again this year.
“It was incredible, today I could really hear the support and I could really feel it,” said Raducanu thanking the crowd. “It was nice to – it’s our turf, the Brits – it’s not just me, but all the Brits are doing pretty well in this tournament, so we’re trying to take the title home again, one of us.”
“It’s our turf… We’re trying to take the title home again, one of us.” ????????????????????????#RothesayOpen Nottingham crowd loved this from @EmmaRaducanu pic.twitter.com/tYNPyY7J5z
— LTA (@the_LTA) June 13, 2024
Raducanu will look to continue her best WTA Tour grass court run tomorrow, when she takes on either Fran Jones or Ashlyn Krueger in the Nottingham Open quarter-final.
Inside the baseline…
Emma Raducanu looked really impressive once again today, with her extra grass court practice seemingly paying off so far. Although her first serve percentage was not actually that high, it was very effective when firing – with a total of 11 aces hit today. Without being disrespectful to either of her next potential opponents, it certainly feels like an opportunity for Raducanu to further her best ever result at a tour-level grass court event.
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