Emma Raducanu made some insightful remarks after her defeat against Anhelina Kalinina at the Qatar Open.
As Raducanu was unable to handle the force of her opponent’s groundstrokes, the 2021 US Open winner was given a first-set shutout by her well-prepared opponent.
She also had trouble with her forehand in a terrible first set, but she should be credited for her comeback in the second set, forcing a set point in the tie-break after saving match points when Kalinina served for the victory at 6-5.
When Raducanu had the opportunity to go into a third set, she chose not to pursue the point, and Kalinina promptly set up another match point, which the Ukrainian took.
Even though Raducanu played some of her finest tennis in a hard-fought second set, she was unhappy, as she talked about in the interview shortly after her loss.
She expressed her thoughts after the match and said: “I felt like I never really got into it. I think it’s a combination of things. It’s like my first-day match; I think I’ve played in a year, so that’s different. Honestly, I think I need to practice training outside a bit more because it’s very different and also because of the light, conditions, and shadows—it’s really hard to kind of see the ball, as I found towards the end. When the tennis isn’t there, you have to at least try to fight and I think I did that in the second set.”
She continued: “I think I was struggling with everything today—forehand, backhand. It was one of those days. I think it was hard because she had a really good backhand. Even if you went line, you had to make sure it was a really good shot because otherwise, she’d take you off cross-court. I just struggled with the timing of the ball, to be honest. I think it’s going to come with more time for practicing as well as matches.”
Raducanu concluded her discussion: “I think that I need to kind of schedule my tournaments a bit better as well as just try to get some more matches under my belt. I think that I’m just going to go home and practice and we’ll see where it goes from there.”
"I never really got into it" 🗨
Emma Raducanu says she struggled, but was proud of her fight 💪 pic.twitter.com/5f5kRYx2M1
— Sky Sports Tennis (@SkySportsTennis) February 12, 2024
Anhelina Kalinina 🇺🇦 defeats Emma 6-0 7-6 in the 1st round at the @QatarTennis 🇶🇦🐪 tournament in Doha
Next tournament TBA#EmmaRaducanu | #Raducanu pic.twitter.com/vgIzZZLkCo
— Emma Raducanu Fans (@RaducanuNews) February 12, 2024
Emma Raducanu in 2024
LWWLLWWLWW Ranked no.262, Emma played her last match on the 12th of February when she lost to world no.30 Anhelina Kalinina 6-0 7-6(6) in the 1st round in Doha (draw).
This season Emma owns an overall 3-4 win-loss record.
Emma Raducanu |
| Embed from Getty Images |
