The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Raducanu pleased with progress despite defeat
Emma Raducanu looked back on a positive clay-court season – and a whirlwind 12 months – after her second round exit at the French Open.
British number one Raducanu ran out of steam as her Roland Garros dream was ended by world number 47 Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
But when the Kent teenager was reminded that a year ago this week she was playing in a British Tour event at the Connaught Club in Essex, a month after sitting her A-levels, her astonishing achievements – that improbable US Open title along with a fourth round at Wimbledon and second rounds here and in Australia – were put into some perspective.
“Yeah, we were saying like with my team this morning, it’s pretty much a year anniversary since my comeback to competitive tennis. I was playing a Brit tour in Connaught,” Raducanu said.
“I think I have come a long way since then and I do really welcome going around the second time.
“I think this year was always going to be challenging for me to adjust, find my feet. There’s always something new. Like I’m always asking where everything is – I have no idea where everything is.
“It’s going to be a lot more familiar this time around. I feel like in the last 12 months I have definitely grown a lot.
“I think that it has been a pretty positive year just because I have learnt so much, and I think the amount of learning that I have kind of done outweighs any sort of result.”
The result that accounted for the 19-year-old in Paris, after a bright start, was a 3-6 6-1 6-1 defeat to Belarusian Sasnovich.
Nevertheless Raducanu can take plenty from the clay court season, and a 6-5 win-loss record is not to be sniffed at given that she only played her first professional match on the surface last month.
“I thought that it was a pretty long match, pretty physical as well,” she said.
“I think my opponent played pretty well throughout and didn’t make any errors. It was a long match for me but the whole clay season has been pretty positive overall, I would say.”
Now Raducanu’s attention will turn full circle, back to the grass, Wimbledon and returning to play in England as a current grand slam champion.
“It’s going to be really nice to go home and play on home turf, on the home grass,” she said.
“It is going to be a little bit strange in the beginning, because I have played on clay court for so long now, I feel like it’s been weeks.
Like, going on to a grass court I’m probably going to be a bit shocked at first.”
Cameron Norrie kept the British flag flying at Roland Garros as he marched into the third round.
Raducanu’s exit meant the British contingent in the singles was reduced to two by day four, but world number 11 Norrie had few problems negotiating his way past Australian qualifier Jason Kubler in straight sets.
Efficiency was key as Norrie, a self-confessed “grinder” on this surface, worked his way into a comfortable two-set lead.
Kubler, a debutant in the main draw in Paris, got the merest sniff of a potential comeback with a break at the start of the third.
But Norrie broke back, at the fifth time of asking in a marathon fifth game, and duly wrapped up a solid 6-3 6-4 6-3 victory in two and a half hours.
The 26-year-old will face Russian Karen Khachanov, the 21st seed, next as he bids to reach the fourth round of a grand slam for the first time.
British number two Dan Evans takes on Sweden’s Mikael Ymer today in his second-round match.
Defending champion and world number one Novak Djokovic is safely through after dispatching Slovakia’s Alex Molcan in straight sets, 6-2 6-3 7-6 (4).
Third seed Alexander Zverev was in a spot of bother at two sets down but battled back to beat Argentina’s Sebastian Baez 2-6 4-6 6-1 6-2 7-5.
Rafael Nadal remains on course for a blockbuster quarter-final against Djokovic.
The 13-time champion showed no signs of the recent recurrence of a foot injury as he swatted aside France’s Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-1 6-4 in the night match.