WTA Cincinnati: "A great gift" - Emma Raducanu is looking forward to a duel against Serena Williams
Emma Raducanu meetsSerena Williams in the first round of the Cincinnati WTA 1000 tournament. The Briton's anticipation of the duel with the 23-time single Grand Slam winner could not be greater.
by Nikolaus Fink
last edit: Aug 16, 2022, 08:27 am
Without a doubt, the first round clash between Emma Raducanu and Serena Williams at the WTA 1000 tournament in Cincinnati is the "popcorn match" par excellence. On the one hand, because the two Grand Slam winners have never faced each other before, but on the other hand, of course, because Williams is making the penultimate stop on her farewell tour in Ohio.
Raducanu herself was also looking forward to her first duel against Williams at her press conference before the start of the tournament. "I think it's going to be an exciting game. I'm looking forward to it. It's a great opportunity to play against what is probably the greatest tennis player of all time. It will probably be my last chance to play against her," explained the 19- year olds.
Raducanu hopes for "good experience"
She is very happy that she still has the opportunity to play against Williams in her career, said the British woman, who is 21 years her junior: "Whatever happens, I think it will be a really good experience for me and something that I will remember for the rest of my life."
Therefore, Raducanu wants to fully enjoy Tuesday's match. "It's a great gift to play against the best when they're on their way out of the sport, so I'm just looking forward to it." In Cincinnati, the Briton will again be coached by Dmitry Tursunov, who was absent from Toronto last week.
Raducanu threatens to fall down the world rankings
At the side of the Russian, Raducanu will probably also defend his title at the US Open, which begins on August 29th. The teenager is currently still in 13th place in the WTA ranking, but after the last Grand Slam tournament of the year, she is threatened with a big crash in the world rankings.
But she doesn't feel any additional pressure because of that, says Raducanu: "If I lose 2,000 points, that's the way it is. Then I start again from the beginning. I know that I can do something that nobody else has done. I'm through qualified and won the US Open. So I can start again from scratch. I'm not afraid of that."