Raducanu Accuses Opponent Of Trying To 'Throw Her Off' During Most Recent Win
NewsMonday, 12 May 2025 at 12:07
Emma Raducanu is on another winning streak, this time at the 2025 Italian Open in Rome, where she bested Veronika Kudermetova to reach the fourth round.
Before beating Kudermetova, the 22-year-old Brit overcame Maya Joint and Jil Teichmann. Kudermetova was Raducanu's highest-ranked opponent so far, and the match proved to be a real battle as well, at least early on.
The 2021 US Open champion lost the first set 5-7 despite serving for it at 5-4. Still, she was able to regroup and win the match in three sets, 5-7, 6-0, 6-1. It was an incredibly impressive comeback win for Raducanu, but it probably didn't come only as a result of her superior skill.
Kudermetova seemed to be struggling with some kind of injury, which is also why she called for a medical timeout at the end of the second set. At the time, the Russian player was down 0-5, and she probably wanted to address her physical issue before the third set.
After returning to the court, Kudermetova lost the following game as well, losing the second set 0-6, and she started the third set by losing the first two games as well.
Although the Russian player might have really struggled to play through an injury, according to Raducanu, who spoke to Sky Sports after the match, Kudermetova's medical timeout was to try to throw her off.
"It was difficult, luckily I was 5-0 up when she took the timeout. I kind of knew it was to throw me off but I kept my cool. Luckily, I had a good cushion and served it out."
"From the third set I was really on it. It’s hard after serving for the first set, it doesn’t just slip your mind, you do refer back to it even if you’re going into the third set. I’m really happy with how I refocused. I don’t know, was that candid (laughing)?"
Luckily for Raducanu, she was able to keep her composure and win the match in three sets, which, ultimately, was the most important thing for her.
Speaking after the match, the British player admitted that she was proud of how she was able to fight despite losing the first set from a winning position.
"The most pleasing part of today was recovering after losing the first set having served for it. I think I threw in a pretty poor game at 5-4 serving but I felt under pressure on Veronika’s returns – she was literally red-lining everything and it was all going in."
"I didn’t know where to serve and it’s not a nice feeling to have. I’m so happy with the way I didn’t let the rest of the match get away. With me, that’s big progress because of some of the matches I played in the past."
Popular News
Just In
