JUST HAVE A LITTLE PATIENCE
Emma: Everyone should give me some more time to find my game... I have gone from zero to top
EMMA RADUCANU has appealed for “patience” before seeking a first win since her US Open triumph.
The Bromley teenager achieved instant worldwide fame with the stunning win in New York last month.
She has since lost in the first round at the BNP Paribas Open in California and is now playing in her father Ian’s homeland of Romania without a coach.
And ahead of the Transylvania Open today, her first match in Europe as a Major champion, the 18-year-old insisted she needed more time to adjust to the higher altitude after a rapid rise up the rankings. “I don’t think there is any pressure on me,” Raducanu said.
“I feel like everyone should just be a little patient with me. I am going to find my tennis, I just need a little bit of time. I kinda went from zero to the top of the game!
“Although things have happened rather fast, I am learning a lot.
“The biggest thing is to be patient with myself because basically from my rankings, I skipped a bunch of girls I learned with. Normally you work your way in, play your way into the game.
“I basically went from the 25s to playing Masters and 500s and 250s. So, it’s obviously going to take some time to adjust but hopefully with some good work, I will be able to do that. Patience is key.
“There are a lot of lows, where you learn about your game and that not everything goes smoothly.” The British No.1 lost her first match as a Grand Slam champion to world No.100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich in Indian Wells.
“My reflection on the performance was that I was quite tired and I think I was still a bit jetlagged,” she added.
“I am bouncing back and hopefully I will have a good week.”
Raducanu will face world
No.123 Polona
Hercog (above) this afternoon
– the Slovenian, who lost to
Coco Gauff at Wimbledon in 2019, has won only four matches this year. World No.23 Raducanu said: “New York was a great experience but I am trying to look ahead.
“The exciting thing is I have a lot of room to improve and I am really enjoying my tennis.”
Raducanu is scheduled to meet top seed and her childhood idol Simona Halep in Saturday’s semifinal and she added: “I would like to play her but that is so far ahead.”
The Romanian (below), who turned 30 last month, enjoyed a much slower journey to the top and won a first Grand Slam title at the 2018 French Open at her 35th attempt.
“Emma is super nice and we just need to wait for her to grow up a little bit at this level,” said the former world No.1.
“She will need some time to see how it is every week to be there. She can easily get into the top 10 sooner than everybody thinks.”
The Transylvania Open started without fans yesterday and a 9pm curfew on bars and restaurants came into force last night because of rising Covid-19 levels.