"I was just trying to get familiar with surroundings" says Emma Raducanu on her Madrid Open debut
WTA
Emma Raducanu was successful in her first appearance at the 2022 Madrid Open when she defeated Tereza Martincova in her opening match.
On her Madrid Open debut, the ninth seed came back from 2-5 down in the first set, saving two set points before defeating Tereza Martincova 7-6(3), 6-0 in an hour and 36 minutes to progress into the second round of the WTA 1000 tournament in the Spanish capital.
The victory put her in the second round against Marta Kostyuk, a fellow teenager. Speaking after her opening-round win, the British player recognized the difficulties of playing a tournament for the first time.
"Whenever you play at a tournament for the first time it is different. And on a new court, I didn't practice on that one, so I was just trying to get familiar with the surroundings. And she came out swinging very well."
"I was definitely feeling like I had to dig in here because I knew I wasn't playing my best at the beginning. So I'm proud of the way I was able to make the most out of what had on the day and then I settled down in the second set."
In the next round, Raducanu will face Marta Kostyuk, whom she has played with many times when playing in junior tournaments. The two also met last year in Cluj, and the Ukrainian won the match 6-2, 6-1, in just an hour.
The 2021 US Open champion, who is aware of her opponent's qualities, will certainly face a difficult challenge from the Ukrainian.
"All throughout juniors she was always the favorite when we played. She was considered much better. Yeah, it's a funny one. When we played last year she played very good, but also I wasn't very well that day. So it'll be an interesting match-up."
