[ad_1]
The question on most lips as Emma Raducanu returned to competition for the first time since her surprising US Open victory was exactly how she would adjust to her new status as Grand Slam champion. Grand Slam success inevitably comes with heightened, and often unwanted, expectations as well as a target in the back as players battle for the most recent and greatest victory.
In her first match as Grand Slam champion at the BNP Paribas Indian Wells Open, 17th seed Raducanu naturally couldn’t play with freedom a month earlier and she was was beaten in the second round by Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus. 6-2, 6-4.
“I think it’s going to take a while for me to really adjust to what’s going on,” she said afterwards. “I mean, I’m still so new to everything. The experiences I am going through right now, although I don’t feel 100% amazing right now, I know they are for the greater good. For the overview I will thank this moment. So, yeah, that’s the lesson I think, that you can easily get caught up in being so focused on the outcome and being disappointed. I mean, I’m 18. I have to relax a bit.
Quick guide
How do I sign up for sports news alerts?
Spectacle
- Download the Guardian app from the iOS App Store on iPhones or the Google Play Store on Android phones by searching for “The Guardian”.
- If you already have the Guardian app, make sure you are using the most recent version.
- In the Guardian app, tap the yellow button at the bottom right, then go to Settings (the gear icon), then Notifications.
- Activate sports notifications.
During his short stint at Indian Wells, Raducanu was one of the main draws as the impact of his US Open run became evident. Ahead of the second round match, fans lined up three rows deep just to watch Raducanu’s practice session and she won the coveted nighttime session in her very first game at Indian Wells, leading the way. displays in front of established champions like Simona Halep and Petra Kvitová.
For a short while, she thrived. Raducanu opened the game with a scorching opening serve play, holding the serve to love with a vicious shot and winning five straight points. But as Raducanu continually tried to keep control of the rally and his place on the backline, his aggression was quickly accompanied by an inconsistent comeback and a growing number of unforced errors.
On the other side of the net, Sasnovich, 27, used all of his wit and experience, causing Raducanu to error with bouts of disjointed and ingenious defense while cleverly choosing his moments to go wild on his backhand. She broke the serve for 2-1, then ran with it, ending the first set with an appropriate display of her sharpness. As Raducanu moved towards the net to put away an easy forehand, Sasnovich anticipated correctly and deflected a tidy forehand lob over Raducanu’s header to take the set.
At the start of the second set, Raducanu took a step back and corrected his inconsistent play by happily lengthening the points and targeting Sasnovich’s forehand. After losing a break, Raducanu’s adjustment started to pay off as she won four of the next five games to lead 4-2. But just when she seemed to have taken control, Raducanu threw up a loose serve play, scoring a routine setback to give a break. Raducanu grew increasingly frustrated as the second set lasted and she wouldn’t win another match as Sasnovich served up a routine victory for Love.
Despite Raducanu’s understandable frustration with his inability to play, this is ultimately a normal result. Indian Wells has only scored Raducanu’s fifth career event at tour level and she has yet to win a WTA game or play a three-set game at that level. Her status may well be elevated following her remarkable US Open victory, but the reality is that she has so little experience to draw on. At this point in his career, every loss is as valuable to his growth as his victories.
In her first major losing press conference of her career, Raducanu showed great self-awareness by continually emphasizing the experience she needs to gain in every game. “I’m still very, very new to the tour,” she said. “I think that experience just came from playing week after week and going through all these different things. I’m pretty glad that what happened today happened so that I could learn it and take it as a lesson. So in the future, yes, I will just have more banking experience.
The competition also reflected the depth of women’s tennis much more than Raducanu’s effortless breeze in the US Open draw. Despite being ranked 100th and having had an average year, Sasnovich is a former top 30 player who scored several top 10 wins and even led Belarus to a surprise Billie Jean King Cup final in 2017. As with many top 100 players, at the right time and with enough inspiration, she can knock down many of the best players in the world. Friday night, that’s all she did.
“She’s been on tour, probably 4-2 like hundreds of times when I was 4-2 ahead… This is my third WTA tournament this year,” said Raducanu. “I mean, it will come over time. I just have to not rush and go on and put my head back on the drawing board, really. “
[ad_2]
Source link