Emma Raducanu had to dig really deep in her second round match at the 2022 Citi Open in Washington.
The 2021 US Open champion took on Camila Osorio and the players battled for 2 hours and 46 minutes despite playing only two sets. The weather was hot in Washington and Emma Raducanu had problems with blisters again. Despite all the challenges, she managed to win the match and set up a quarterfinal clash with Liudmila Samsonova from Russia.
"Honestly three hours in that condition, I think that I probably played in Landisville, Pennsylvania, last year, and I'd say there it was probably worse conditions, but I wasn't out there for three hours with the length of rallies that I was out there today," Raducanu said.
"So conditions-wise it was probably hotter and tougher over there, but match-wise I think it's got to be one of the most physical matches I have ever played."
"At the beginning of the match I was alright, then throughout the match my skin was just ripping off. In the beginning, there was like a flap, but then the flap got ripped off and it was pretty raw and open," said Raducanu.
"I think I died about three times in that match and then came back. I don’t know how!” Raducanu said. "Camila is such a battler. Every single point I was working so, so hard and sometimes it wasn’t necessarily the strongest shots, but you’ve just got to generate, generate over and over again."
Camila Osorio enjoys a solid season after breaking through last year and the British player had only words of praise for her opponent following the hard-fought victory.
"She’s such a fighter and even when I was up in the second set, 4-2, 40-love, three break points, she came back fighting. When she comes back, the dynamic of the match changes a little bit so I’m really pleased to have got through that one."
"After a set like that where there’s so much emotion involved and you win the set, it’s very easy to switch off. I was telling myself to stay sharp, keep working for every point. I knew as soon as I let up she’d be right back in and that’s what she did."
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