For the second time in a year, Emma Raducanu fought back tears after a Grand Slam defeat. At the US Open last August, she cried following a tame first-round loss. This time the 22-year old was visibly upset after claiming she should have “executed better” and beaten world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka in her best ever Wimbledon performance. Even if the emotions felt the same, the on-court progress is clear for the 2021 US Open champion.
Former Wimbledon winner Chris Evert said: “Emma Raducanu has had a rough, rough four years but she has found renewed purpose in her game. Renewed purpose, renewed joy. She is on her way back.”
Raducanu revealed she sought immediate solace in a post-match Kit Kat and then admitted: “I think I’m just very self-critical. Of course, I’m very proud of being competitive on the court. Yes, there are positives. Right now it’s so soon after the match. I think it’s better for me to kind of feel a bit of the pain right now and then process it better that way.
“I’ll probably find it tough to sleep tonight, or I’ll be so exhausted and crash. It’s going to take me a few days to process that. But at the same time it really motivates me because it’s not far, but there are still a lot of things that I want to do better, a lot of things I want to improve to really kind of solidify my game so that in the big moments I can back myself a little bit more.”
Raducanu was a break up in both sets – and had a set point in the tiebreak – before losing 7-6 6-4 to the top seed. She also saved seven set points in the first set but then lost the last five games. She has still to take a set off a world No.1 but she is getting closer. Her serve especially has really improved.
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Raducanu, who will next play in Washington later this month in the build-up to the US Open, admitted that her pre-Wimbledon beliefs about the gap to the very best may have been incorrect. She said: “It gives me confidence that I’m not as far away as I perhaps thought before the tournament.
“To really push Aryna to the top, it does give me confidence. But at the same time, I feel like grass for me is a great surface. A bit of a leveller. So I think taking it onto a different surface where it’s a lot more lively in America is another challenge in itself.”
Evert claimed Raducanu has a “great coach too” – her fellow Tennis Channel analyst Mark Petchey who has been working with the new British No.3 since March.
Asked about him continuing the role, Raducanu said: “It’s very difficult. He obviously also has his commentating commitments. That’s a conversation that we need to have after a few days and the dust settles a little bit.”