Emma Raducanu ‘proud' of pushing Aryna Sabalenka to limit in Cincinnati Open
Five weeks on from their memorable third-round match at Wimbledon, Raducanu showed her continued progress by making life even more difficult for the world No 1 in Cincinnati and coming close to pulling off the best individual victory of her career. After three hours and nine minutes on court, Raducanu lost 7-6 (3), 4-6, 7-6 (5).
'She's world No 1 for a reason and I pushed her more than I did at Wimbledon so that's an improvement,' said Raducanu. 'And also, it was good to have this result on a hard court because it's very different to grass. I was always thinking that grass suits me a lot more and I still believe that so to have pushed her on a hard court like that, I'm pretty proud of it.'
The 30th seed continued: 'I think starting the point is a big takeaway. I think she did that incredibly well in the big moments, she served and returned really well. Me too in certain moments of the match. To hold that level on starting the point in the match is a big thing to me.'
After losing the first set, Raducanu recovered brilliantly, serving well for large stretches and then finding a way through an incredible 13-deuce service game at 3-4 in the final set. In the end, Sabalenka showed her mental toughness by saving her best tennis for the most important moments.
'You take the lessons from this,' said Raducanu, 22. 'I was able to play some good tennis for patches of the match, but I think it also dropped off for other patches of the match. So I think with work and going on the practice court, I can do it for longer and hold the level high for longer. But that being said, we had a three-hour match and I felt pretty good out there for the most part against Aryna who's achieved everything she has, so it's mostly positives.'
Raducanu's defeat also marks an end to her first tournament with her new coach Francisco Roig, a former member of Rafael Nadal's coaching team, who has been working with the Briton since last Tuesday. After her comfortable second-round win against Olga Danilovic, this was their first big match together. Roig was extremely vocal throughout with encouragement and specific tactical advice.
'I think the first week went well,' said Raducanu. 'I think we practised well. I made some improvements and I think for certain moments, you could see some stuff we practised peek through. But given that it's only been a week, I think there's been improvements.'
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For four arduous years, so much of Emma Raducanu's life has played out in public. Every decision relating to her career has been dissected and debated. The most banal details surrounding her personal life have been transfigured into headline news. In order to find herself on and off the tennis court, Raducanu has had to learn how to tune out the noise, which at times can be deafening. Only one month ago at Wimbledon, the discourse surrounding the 22-year-old reached diabolical lows. Even though her on-court performances were strong, it was impossible to escape the speculation surrounding her personal life. In the bowels of center court at the Cincinnati Open, I offer my own blunt perspective: I have never cringed as much as I did while watching people trying to pry into her romantic relationships at the All England Club. 'Yeah, and Cam's questions, too,' Raducanu responds, laughing. 'That was terrible. Terrible.' 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Everything leads back to those three fateful weeks at the US Open in the summer of 2021, where Raducanu became the first qualifier to win a grand slam title. The spoils of victory were significant but Raducanu's rapid success yielded considerable challenges. Along with the difficult results and constant criticism, her body constantly betrayed her. In 2023, after struggling physically for a long time, she underwent surgeries on both wrists and her left ankle. While she tried to prove herself on the court, Raducanu says, people within her team would tell her she wasn't tough: 'I was obviously like: 'Oh, no, I am tough enough.'' says Raducanu. 'And it wasn't good to hear, because I always prided myself on being a hard worker and being tough. And I believe I am. I actually think it was more the people around me that were maybe incorrect, and I think it led me down to having three surgeries and double wrist surgery, because I was overtraining and just covering it up, not saying anything, and not saying I was in pain, even when I was. So it was really tough to hear. But I think as I've grown with experience, I kind of realised my body a bit more and trusted myself a bit more.' Mentally, things were even more challenging. As she failed to follow up her breakthrough victory with similar results, there were times when her mind twisted her US Open triumph into a negative memory, the source of her struggles. It was not until this year that she understood how to focus on her improvement and daily work, however gradual, rather than comparing every result to the 2021 US Open. Still, it remains a work in progress. 'It's [comparisons to the US Open] something that never fully leaves you,' Raducanu says. 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I was like: 'Look, these guys, they don't relate.' And, to be honest, no other athlete has done what I've done, so I don't know why I'm taking advice from them. So I was like: 'OK, well, the only person who can help me is myself.'' For a long time the four defining cities of Raducanu's life were listed in her biographies across her social media platforms. Her parents, Ion and Renee, originally come from Bucharest, Romania, and Shenyang, China, respectively while she was born in Toronto, Canada, and grew up in London, England. Her mother's solo immigration from China to Canada has been an inspirational tale throughout her life. 'I would say it's funny when people ask where you're from,' she says. 'Obviously, I feel British. I've always grown up there, But there are certain things, the way I think, I don't think I am completely. So you have a little question about your identity. 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Her injury layoff in 2023, which initially seemed like a catastrophe, turned out to be essential for her personal development. Raducanu spent her time away from tennis travelling, including a long trip to China, trying different hobbies and gradually learning more about herself. She learned that she is also creative, which has significantly influenced her playing style on the court. 'I kind of discovered the more artistic side – the piano, the painting, the reading, the philosophy, all of those things,' she says. 'And I really think it opened my eyes to another world. Now I'm kind of seeing how I can find an area where those two intersect, and have the creative side, but also have the quantitative side.' With age and experience, Raducanu also has a greater understanding of her preferences when making general decisions. While discussing her decision making, Raducanu's mind shifts to another source of criticism: her coaching history. 'I think I'm a lot more clear on what I do and don't like,' she says. 'I think the experiences that I've had with different coaches – people love to say I've had so many different coaches but, if I went into the details of a lot of them, people would not be kind of saying the same things. I just don't do that, because I don't want to 'out' these people. So keep it to myself.' Is it ever tempting? 'I would say, like, when you see things and you're like: 'Oh, Emma on her ninth coach' or something, I'm like: 'Guys, come on.' Certain ones don't count. If you've had a trial, you don't have to carry on after the trial. A few have been trials, a few have been other situations. And I just try and take the high road,' she says. Then she laughs. 'And try to do what the royal family would do.' After years of rolling with the punches and gradually coming to understand herself, Raducanu seems to finally be in a positive place again. She speaks effusively about the great enjoyment she has found in her consistent daily work and she has thrown herself into becoming the best player she can be each day. Raducanu's results are reflective of that shift and her ranking is clearly on the rise. Her time in Cincinnati, her first week with her new coach, Francisco Roig, ended with a colossal three-hour battle with Aryna Sabalenka, the world No 1, where she narrowly lost 7-6 in the final set. Over the next few days, she will return to New York for the US Open more self-assured than she has been since she won the title. Our second conversation ends with a final question on Raducanu's ambitions for the next few years beyond her results. After a beat, she shrugs. The hope, she says, is that the passion and joy she now feels each day about her daily work will endure. 'I want to continue for the next few years, to just keep enjoying because I would rather not do anything else or be anywhere else,' she says, shrugging. 'I see my friends, like, somewhere in the south of France, and they're chilling on a boat or whatever, and I'm just like: 'OK, well, it looks amazing,' but when I'm putting in double session practices with the people around laughing, that fills me up so much more. So I'm really happy to have gotten to this place and [I want] to just continue that.'
