Emma Raducanu was very pleased with how she overcame Marie Bouzkova in her first-round match at the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open.
The WTA 500 event in Abu Dhabi is Raducanu's first tournament since the Australian Open. She exited in the second round in Melbourne to Wang Yafan after a tough three-set battle, with the 21-year-old feeling ill in the third set.
It was a very good start in Abu Dhabi for the 2021 US Open champion. Raducanu beat Bouzkova 6-4 6-1 in the opening round. Her level was extremely impressive and got better throughout the contest, with Raducanu dominating the second set.
The Brit's excellent performance will not have gone unnoticed around the tennis world. Raducanu has spoken about what she would consider success this season, and she is more likely to achieve it with that level of tennis.
Raducanu was unsurprisingly happy in her post-match interview, and outlined what the keys were to her success against the gritty and determined Bouzkova. She mentioned that adapting to the court speed took some time.
"In the beginning I was adjusting to the speed of the court, I hadn't played on this court this year yet, so I was kind of just adjusting and it was pretty quick."
The former Grand Slam champion then talked about how Bouzkova is a very tough competitor and mentioned the one thing in particular she began to do better after the early stages that made a big difference.
"Marie is a really tough opponent, I knew that coming in I was going to have to play so many balls and I think at the beginning I was missing some of the finishing shots, but I cleaned them up, so I'm very happy about that."
That is a very good assessment of the match from Raducanu. She became very difficult for Bouzkova to stop when she started finishing the points more successfully, recording her first WTA 500 win since March 2023.
The 21-year-old faces the huge task of three-time Grand Slam champion Ons Jabeur in the next round.
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