Emma Raducanu admitted she “has a long way to go” after suffering an early exit at the French Open. The Brit lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-3, 1-6, 1-6 to bring her first campaign at Roland Garros to an end.
As her debut clay-court season has come to an end, the Bromley local is confident that she can be a good player on the surface in the future. “I think that I definitely got stronger as the clay season went on,” Raducanu said post-match.
“It just takes a lot more to win the point on this surface, and you hit a ball flat, [it] doesn’t really do that much. I definitely learnt when to use the shape [top spin]. I still got quite a long way to go on this surface, but overall, I would say I definitely had a good first experience on the clay.”
The teen began the match brightly, breaking the Russian in the fifth game of the first set, clinched by a pair of blistering backhand winners and an impressive forehand. The world number 47 failed to take her three break point chances in the opening salvo, but made sure to capitalise on a double break to start the second while winning 12 of her 14 service points en route to levelling the match at a set apiece.
Raducanu then spurned five break points at the 1-1 in the deciding set, before the 28-year-old took charge and reeled off five straight games to record her 16th career victory over a top-20 player. The US Open champion finished the contest with 33 unforced errors and lost her second successive match to Sasnovich, the first coming at Indian Wells last year.
The world number 12 seemed to drop intensity mid-way through the encounter, which saw her lose momentum and was unable to recover. Raducanu admits it is something she needs to work on as her attentions turn to the grass court season.
“I think before I would let the losses kind of affect me more so than I am right now,” she said, remaining positive. "Now I just look at everything as a lesson, and I know exactly where I went wrong, where I can improve, where other people are better than me.”
The Brit was struggling with injury earlier this month as she was forced to retire from her first round match in Rome. Doubtful she would be able to compete in the French capital, the positive outcome is that Raducanu felt physically good after two three set matches.
“I’m quite happy with the progress that I’m making. I do feel like I’m playing some pretty good tennis and on the practice court I’m definitely working,” she said. “Certain things I’m working on on the practice court that are paying off, they don’t show immediately. There is a little time lag between when they will actually produce results on a live situation. I’m definitely getting there.”
