Emma Raducanu has a lot of positives to draw from her run at this year’s BNP Paribas Open but she admits that there is still plenty of room for improvement.
Raducanu’s journey in the desert ended on Tuesday after she was knocked out in the fourth round by top seed and defending champion Iga Swiatek who stormed to a 6-3, 6-1, victory in just over 80 minutes. The Pole won 74% of her service points without being broken throughout the match. It is the second time she has beaten the Brit after Stuttgart last year. Overall, Swiatek has won 14 out of 17 matches played so far this season.
“Overall I feel like physically she is much further ahead than I am at this moment,” Raducanu replied when asked to compare her current form to Swiatek’s. “I think I was able to stay competitive at the beginning of the first set, and then I think the first three games took over 20 minutes.’
“We were having some pretty epic rallies and I think my defence got better.”
Despite sustaining a heavy loss, Raducanu is heading in the right direction. Indian Wells is only the fourth Tour-level event where the former US Open champion has registered three or more main draw wins in a row. Earlier in the tournament, she recorded victories over 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia, 20th seed Magda Linette and Danka Kovinic.
The run occurred after concerns were initially raised over her ability to even play in the event following the recurrence of a wrist problem which ended her season last year. Raducanu also suffered an ankle twist earlier this year as well as a bout of tonsillitis.
“It feels good. Gives me confidence,” she said.
“I think especially because of where I was before this tournament when I didn’t think I would even play, to be honest.‘
“But to have played and then won three rounds and beaten two amazing opponents, I’m very proud of myself. Now it’s just about consistent work to physically get to where I want to be.’
As to where she wants to be with her game, the 20-year-old gave an honest assessment of where she believes her tennis is currently at. Asked by one reporter during her press conference to give a percentage of where she is currently at compared to where she wants to be, Raducanu estimated that she is 35%.
“Physically I feel like that’s going to be one of my biggest assets. My team has spoken about it. I think that I’m going to be one of the best athletes on the tour and that’s going to be a big part of my game.” She explained.
“I would say there is a very long way to go, but I’m definitely starting the right work now.”
Raducanu will now take a day of rest before travelling to Miami for her next event. Meanwhile, Swiatek will play Romania’s Sorana Cirstea in the last eight at Indian Wells.
