Raducanu Finds 'A Lot Of Positives' Despite Britain's Billie Jean King Cup Finals Loss
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Team Great Britain missed out on the final of the Billie Jean King Cup, but there were many positives for Emma Raducanu.
Raducanu had not played in nearly two months before the Billie Jean King Cup Finals after an injury she sustained in the Korea Open quarterfinal against Daria Kasatkina. She retired after just 31 minutes of that match.
The 2021 US Open champion confirmed afterward that she had sprained ligaments in her foot and would need time to recover. That issue led to her missing the entirety of the WTA Tour's Asian swing.
Although she was doubtful for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, Raducanu worked hard off the court and successfully got herself ready in time for the Finals in Malaga.
It would have been a shame if Raducanu had not featured since she played the most significant role in getting Team Great Britain there with two victories against France in April's qualifiers.
Raducanu made a positive start in Great Britain's first-round tie against Germany by defeating Jule Niemeier. Katie Boulter's triumph over Laura Siegemund sealed a 2-0 win and a place in the quarterfinals against the defending champions, Canada.
However, the Brits made light work of the title holders. Raducanu comfortably overcame Rebecca Marino in straight sets before Boulter produced an outstanding performance to beat Leylah Fernandez.
Team Great Britain looked to be on course for the final after Raducanu won in straight sets for the third match in a row against Slovakia's Viktoria Hruncakova. Boulter then took the opening set 6-2 against Rebecca Sramkova in the second match.
But the Slovakians fought back in stunning style. Sramkova shocked Boulter 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 before Hruncakova and Tereza Mihalikova thrashed Heather Watson and Olivia Nicholls 6-2, 6-2 to allow Slovakia to progress to the final.
Raducanu was understandably disappointed not to make the final after winning all of her matches, but still managed to pick out the positives from a successful return to the court after her injury in a press conference.
"Yeah, I think I had some good performances on the court this week. I played three matches, which is great for me. I haven't played in a while so I think being able to score a point and get on the board was helpful."
"I think the positives to take are physically I held up pretty well. It didn't take me too long to kind of step back into that match sharpness. I think I was pretty sharp out there."
"Yeah, there is a lot of positives for me to take individually. i think I did pretty well, and it was obviously made a lot easier by having a great team behind me. Everyone was really kind of working to help each other push each other to do better."
Raducanu can now plan for the 2025 season. Before the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. The 22-year-old revealed she was negotiating to add Naomi Osaka and Maria Sharapova's former fitness coach to her team.
Latest Comments
- Kyrgios will do anything to stay in the news.shirley19-12-2024
- A technical error.
MrMustard18-12-2024 - All that is said , all that is done. Nick has 0 grand slams wins. Everything else is hot 🥵 air.MrMustard18-12-2024
- All that is said , all that isMrMustard18-12-2024
- Kyrgios is a jerk.shirley17-12-2024
- If Jessica Pegula had to undergo such horror for using a bannes substance, so do these two tennis players. Penalty should apply to all players regardless of their excuses. They are professionals and know better!!
Stella112-12-2024 - All players should be treated the same for taking banned substances, if your no 1 in the world or no 300 man or woman you should not be allowed to keep playing,,VPH108-12-2024
- Ah, censored again. No one gets to read my comment. LOLjjluvsports08-12-2024
- Reynolds, could you list all the wars started by the U.S. and U.K., or will you run out of paper? Hypocrisy.jjluvsports06-12-2024
- IDK, it looks like to me that Raducanu should praise herself and her team for 'gaming the system' as in playing the points and ranking game. When you look at her season of wild cards, skipping tournaments (including the Paris Olympics!), retiring from losing matches and avoiding qualifying rounds, it seems like there was some plan to move up the ranks without actually playing a lot of tennis. And it worked! Congrats!RealityCheckers04-12-2024