Emma Raducanu claimed that the string tension in her racket was off during the early stages of her battle with Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon on Friday night. The Brit was made to play under a closed Centre Court roof because Taylor Fritz and Carlos Alcaraz dragged their feet during their victories earlier in the day.
Raducanu was not happy with her equipment and confirmed after her 7-6, 6-4 loss that she sent two rackets to the stringer – but they took 20 minutes to return. She also encountered the same problem against Mimi Xu in round one and needed her team to visit the stringer after the first game.
“I think I could have just executed a bit better,” the Brit said. “In the first set as well I was struggling with the tension.
“I felt like the ball was flying. I had, like, all my racquets strung up fresh for the match, and it just felt like it was pinging completely different. It could have been a little bit because the roof was on. I sent a couple racquets to be restrung.
“It takes, like, 20 minutes by the time they turn it over. Still, it was a bit difficult. I’m frustrated with that part maybe, small details. But I don’t think I, like, could have made different choices. I think I should have just executed better.”
However, Sabalenka felt that Raducanu’s mistake was a rookie error – one that she has been stung from before.
“That’s more to have an extra racket, maybe not in your bag, but your team,” the world No.1 explained. “For example, my team, they always have like two extra racquet with the higher tension and two extra racquets with lower tension. They prepare it. You don’t have to wait for another racquet.
“I also had really terrible experience at French Open in year when I lost in semis against Muchova because I didn’t have racquet. We weren’t prepared. I didn’t have a right tension. I had to play with a lower tension. I didn’t control the ball, didn’t feel well.
“After that experience we learned it’s four extra racquets in my team’s bag just in case. You never know. You can wake up and feel great with one tension. Another day you wake up and you don’t feel at all. You got to be prepared.”
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