Emma Raducanu explains mindset change behind Madrid Open success as hopeful run continues | Tennis | Sport
Emma Raducanu claims to be cherishing the highs and lows of the past few months as she ‘vibes’ her way to a promising run at the Madrid Open. The British tennis sensation’s results have been up and down since she burst onto the scene last year, requiring a mature mindset to cope with the physical and mental demands at the top level.
Raducanu rode the wave of a meteoric rise in 2021, going on a shock run at Wimbledon before an even more startling US Open triumph at Flushing Meadows. A tough streak of tournament results followed, but a recent upturn in fortunes have given fans plenty to cling onto.
An impressive run to the Stuttgart Open quarter-finals last month was ended by world no.1 Iga Swiatek, against whom the teenager put up a better fight than most. She recently took the ‘tough’ decision to part with coach Torben Beltz before forging a path to the Madrid Open last 16, and claims that since being landed with instant fame and glory last year she is now relishing the negatives as well as the positives.
“I’m just vibing out here to be honest,” she told Amazon Prime, as quoted by Eurosport, “I love it.
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“The big part of it is just the enjoyment factor and I think in the recent months and weeks I’ve found enjoyment in the process and the journey of getting knocked down and getting back up because that’s happened plenty of times in the last six months. I feel like now I’m just really cherishing everything – the highs and lows – as part of it.”
Raducanu has only given up three games in her last three sets of action in Madrid. She survived a scare in her first-round match to beat Tereza Martincova 7-6 6-0, before demolishing Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk 6-2 6-1.
Next up, Raducanu faces another Ukrainian star in Anhelina Kalinina, who has pulled off two impressive victories over Sloane Stephens and Gabrine Muguruza to get this far. The Brit’s encouraging start to the clay seasons suggests she will take some beating, however, having only made her senior debut on clay at the Billie Jean King Cup less than three weeks ago.
A positive Madrid campaign should leave Raducanu in a good position to capitalise at the French Open, which gets underway on May 22. Still without a conventional coach, the 19-year-old has backed herself to make things work and will not be rushed into making a hasty decision.
“Growing up, I have always been very responsive to the situation and it has not always been straightforward,” she said, “I am not necessarily stressing or panicking to find a new coach.
“From a young age, I haven’t necessarily always had a coach and when I was training alone growing up, I had to learn to be my own coach. I feel something that I am pretty good at is actually understanding the game, studying it. ‘A lot of the time I feel that I like know the answers.”
