The 2021 US Open champion, Emma Raducanu, has already played her first three professional matches on clay, and she was successful in two, so the young Brit is looking forward to playing more on this surface.
Currently, Emma Raducanu is competing at the 2022 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she defeated Storm Sanders 6-1, 6-2 in the first round, in what was her first professional clay-court match on the WTA Tour, excluding her previous two Billie Jean King Cup matches.
In the second round, she'll play against lucky loser Tamara Korpatsch, who lost to Sanders in qualifying. Raducanu, however, is still playing only her first full year on the WTA Tour, and so she's trying to enjoy every minute spent on clay.
"I feel like there were many long deuce games and I'm very happy to have battled through against Storm. She played two matches in qualifying and we played last year. She's extremely tricky and I'm just really happy to have found a way through those long games and put on a good performance."
One of the things that the Brit has to adjust to is the duration of the points. Naturally, since the clay courts are slower, it also takes longer to build up a point and finish off the rally, something Raducanu didn't have to deal with during her 2021 US Open run.
"The duration of the points, that's something I need to work on as I spend more time on clay. It will improve my craftiness and variety of shot, so I'm just looking forward to spending more time on this surface moving forward."
Her first contact with the red clay during her professional career came in Prague during the 2022 Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers tie in the Czech Republic, yet she still managed to win her debut match on the surface before losing to Marketa Vondrousova.
“This time last week I was practicing in Prague and I genuinely didn’t know how to move. The fitness trainer was teaching me how to slide using a medicine ball. So I’m really pleased with how I’ve improved in a week.”
“At the US Open I think the biggest thing was just having zero expectation and just going out there and having fun every single match, having a swing and I think that’s something that overtime I’ve definitely developed and starting to do more and more. I’m just really enjoying my tennis at the moment.”