Emma Raducanu says she is ‘not too concerned’ about her results this season as she switches her focus to another area.
The British world No.250 enters this week’s BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells with a win-loss record of 3-4 so far this season and is yet to win back-to-back matches at a tournament. She has scored wins over Elena Gabriela Ruse, Shelby Rogers and Marie Buzkova. Three players who are all currently ranked outside the world’s top 30.
21-year-old Raducanu hasn’t reached a Tour final since winning the 2021 US Open as a qualifier. In 2023 she missed a large chunk of the Tour due to ankle and wrist surgery. Now on the comeback, she says her focus is now on her development as a player and not necessarily her results on the Tour.
“I want to work on becoming a better tennis player,” Raducanu told BBC Sport.
“I think for me I’m not too concerned about this year’s tournaments.
“A lot of people out there would say that I need matches, but I think that for me I want to work on my game and development.
“Taking time to do that is very necessary and not just following the crowd, or playing a lot of matches, or dropping down [to Challenger level] to do that. I want to work on developing skills.”
In Indian Wells, Raducanu will be defending 120 points after reaching the fourth round 12 months ago before losing in straight sets to Iga Swiatek. That was also the last time she won consecutive matches at a tournament.
“It’s just a bit of a journey for me, I would say, you don’t really know what to expect after being out for eight months,” she explained.
“I felt like because I was so go-go-go since December, I felt like I became a little fatigued, so it was good to go back, freshen up and practise for the American swing, which I’m a big fan of.”
Raducanu will begin her Indian Wells campaign against qualifier Rebeka Masarova in the first round. If she wins, she will then play 30th seed and Australian Open semi-finalist Dayana Yastremska.
