RADUCANU FINE ALL BY HERSELF
Brit finds way to fight back without coach
EMMA RADUCANU said it was “rewarding” to work out how to win her first match since sacking her latest coach at the Madrid Masters.
The US Open champion trailed 5-2 and had to save three set points before taking a first-set tiebreak against world No.49 Tereza Martincova.
But after finding her feet in her first outdoor professional clay event, the Bromley teenager then won 11 of the last 12 games to race to a 7-6 6-0 victory in 96 minutes.
Raducanu announced her split from German Torben Beltz after only five months on Tuesday, saying she did not need a “conventional” coach. And she believes she proved her point in the Caja Magica.
“It was a tricky first set,” said the British No.1. “It’s always tough playing on a brand-new court and it took me a little bit of time to adjust to my surroundings.
“If you’re low or lacking in your own game, an opponent at this level is going to take advantage of that.
“I feel when things aren’t going so well, like in the first set where I wasn’t playing my best, you work things out and use what you have on the day.
“It’s always quite rewarding just to know that you have that back-up option. I just kept believing in myself in the first set.
“And I knew I could actually just put my game on the court and I could turn the match around. I’m just glad that I stuck through the first set and definitely relaxed in the second set.”
After signing courtside autographs for her fans, Raducanu said: “I just want to thank you so much for coming out. I really appreciated your support. I could hear your support. It definitely got me through some tricky moments in the first set.”
Raducanu has now won four out of six matches on clay this season. The No.9 seed now faces a rematch with Ukrainian teenager Marta Kostyuk, who thrashed her 6-2 6-1 in their only previous meeting at the Transylvanian Open last October when Raducanu was feeling ill.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have played,” Raducanu said.
“But we played a lot in juniors and she’ll probably want to beat me really badly.”