Raducanu outclassed by Swiatek at French Open

Yahoo

6 days ago

Emma Raducanu's miserable record against Iga Swiatek continued as she was outclassed by the defending champion in their French Open second-round meeting.
The British number two was beaten 6-1 6-2 on the Paris clay and has now lost all five of her matches against the five-time Grand Slam winner.
It was another reminder of the gulf that still exists between 41st-ranked Raducanu and the leading players on the WTA Tour.
After being unable to convert a break point in the opening game, 22-year-old Raducanu quickly lost her way as fifth seed Swiatek rattled off five games in a row.
Raducanu's second serve was placed under serious pressure and her groundstrokes became increasingly ragged as the 23-year-old from Poland secured the opening set in 35 minutes.
Swiatek, who has won four of the past five Roland Garros titles, is known as the 'Queen of Clay' because of her formidable record here and quickly moved a break ahead at 2-1 in the second set.
After a below-par clay-court swing, though, there are some questions about her level and they resurfaced when Raducanu threatened to break back immediately.
But Swiatek managed to maintain her intensity under pressure - one of the key differences between players of her status and Raducanu - to save three break points in a lengthy fourth game.
Raducanu, who was sick before her opening match on Monday, began to run out of steam and lost the final three games with little resistance.
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Looking at the bigger picture, Raducanu has made encouraging strides over the past three months.
The 2021 US Open champion has climbed back into the world's top 50 after an injury-hit couple of years, showing progress by reaching the Miami Open quarter-finals and the Italian Open last 16.
That has been a benefit of playing with more freedom since appointing Mark Petchey as her coach in an "informal" arrangement in March.
Against Swiatek, though, she was unable to do that.
While a more rigid approach was caused partly by Swiatek's depth of return and ability to change angles, Raducanu's ball-striking was also well below her best.
Sticking in the rallies with Swiatek was a tough task and demonstrated how difficult Raducanu still finds returning ball after ball against the intensity of the top stars.
It was a similar story against American world number two Coco Gauff on the Rome clay earlier this month.
While Raducanu has undoubtedly made progress with her resilience, the fact she has only won three of her 14 career matches against top-10 players indicates she still has further to go.
Clay is not her natural surface, it must be remembered, and beating Swiatek on the red dirt is one of the most difficult challenges in the game.
Raducanu will now turn her attentions to the grass-court season, starting with a home WTA tournament at Queen's, which starts in less than a fortnight.
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