Emma Raducanu, who was making her second appearance on the court after an eight-month break, gave an amazing performance in the ASB Classic second round on Thursday, but ultimately lost to Elina Svitolina 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 6-1.
Despite this setback, Raducanu stated that there is still a lot more to come. She will now focus on the Australian Open later this month after multiple withdrawals forced her to enter the competition’s main draw.
Though she missed out on a chance to advance to the ASB Classic quarterfinals, the 21-year-old was proud of her comeback to the sport and her performances.
Raducanu expressed her thoughts and said: “It’s, of course, pretty exciting for me. I’ve only played two matches and my court time has been pretty limited. I’ve been training for the last few months at the LTA, but I had a few setbacks with my wrists and ankles. So to be back up to speed after so little is a great sign.”
She added: “Of course, I’m disappointed about today because I was a few points away and had a few forehands mid-court, but at least I took them. I think I’d regret it more if I just pushed it in and let her hit a winner, so at least it was on my terms. I’m looking forward to this season; it’s just the beginning. It’s week one—a lot more to come.”
Emma Raducanu on her encouraging display vs Elina Svitolina: "It's pretty exciting for me. To be back up to this speed after so little time is a great sign. I'm looking forward to the season. It's just the beginning, it's week one of a lot more to come." https://t.co/lWQEVuXw42
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) January 4, 2024
Emma Raducanu in 2024
WWWLWWLLWW Currently ranked no.301, the Brit played her last match on the 4th of January when she lost to world no.25 Elina Svitolina 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 6-1 in the 2nd round in Auckland (draw).
This year the Brit has achieved an overall 1-1 match record.
Svitolina in Auckland, ranking, and results in 2024
LWWLWLWWLW Ranked world no.25, Elina achieved a compiled 3-0 match record in 2024. Elina is competing in Auckland where she beat the world no.256 Caroline Wozniacki 6-4 6-3, the world no.301 Emma Raducanu 6-75 7-63 6-1 and the world no.36 Marie Bouzkova 6-0 6-3.
Elina Svitolina will come up against the world no.71 Xiyu Wang in the semifinal. They have never played each other until now on the main tour.
Svitolina won 17 titles in her career: 9 on hard courts, 6 on clay courts and 2 on indoor courts. (See the list of her titles)
Emma Raducanu and Elina Svitolina fought against each other just 1 time. The head to head is 1-0 for Svitolina. When they played, Elina Svitolina won 6-7(5) 7-6(3) 6-1 in the 2nd round in Auckland (ASB Classic) on the 4th of January 2024.
In the following video you can watch the highlights.
