Emma Raducanu has been rediscovering her best form in recent months, and it’s showing. The British No. 3 beat four-time Major winner Naomi Osaka in a highly-anticipated match to reach the quarter-final stage in Washington for the third time in her career. And even Raducanu can see the difference when she’s on the match court.
After sealing a confident 6-4 6-2 victory, the 22-year-old admitted she liked what she was seeing from herself when she watched back videos of her matches. But Raducanu quickly added: “Not in a narcissistic way.”
Raducanu’s career has been an anomaly. At 18, she became an overnight sensation when she became the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title at the US Open, in what was just her fourth professional tournament.
Since then, the world No. 46 has struggled for form, with her big result coming before she had settled into life on the tour. But, with some extra work under her belt, Raducanu is finally cutting a composed figure on the match court.
She explained: “Yeah, I think when I watch myself now, I really like how I look on the court. Not in like a narcissistic way. I mean in terms of energy, and I think I feel quite upbeat. The pink outfit is pretty cute as well.
“I think it’s more I look composed on the court. I feel composed. I think that’s a product of just the amount of work I’m doing behind the scenes that maybe people don’t see. I love that, I love banking it in, doing everything in the shadows.
“Yeah, and then I feel pretty calm, because I know regardless of the result I’m doing the right things, and I’m banking so many good days in a row and trying to keep a streak going. It’s working really well. It takes a bit of pressure off the immediate result in the matches.”
Raducanu once had something of a reputation for limiting her schedule – either pulling out of tournaments because she was injured, or purposefully opting for a training block instead of competition.
But so far this season, the Brit has played 15 tournaments, and she’s still working hard on the practice courts to improve certain shots. Now, her serve is more of a weapon, and Raducanu looks reliable in matches.
“I think I have just been doing a lot of work consistently, just putting a lot of tennis in. Sometimes even if you don’t feel good when you’re practicing because you’re doing a lot of hours and you don’t feel like you’re really pushing, it’s all kind of hours banked,” she added.
“I’m also doing, I think, a lot more focused work, and also, I think I’m serving better, and that helps a lot.
“I think I always returned pretty decent, but the element of just when I serve well, it does add another dimension to my game. I’m able to kind of start the points better and look for my forehand and get that into play a bit more and then dictate.”
Raducanu’s work is paying off. After pushing world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the third round of Wimbledon, where she ultimately lost, she’s immediately bounced back in Washington.
The world No. 46 will face Maria Sakkari in Friday’s quarter-final, and she’s also in the doubles semi-final with Elena Rybakina.
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