WTA Indian Wells: Emma Raducanu - "Will take it as a lesson"
For Emma Raducanu it was a bitter first round defeat in Indian Wells in the first appearance since the sensational US Open triumph. A defeat that the 18-year-old would rather see as a lesson.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Oct 10, 2021, 08:09 am
Hardly any other statistic illustrates the importance of Emma Raducanu's US Open success as well as this: After her first round defeat in Indian Wells, a clear 2: 6 and 4: 6 against Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich , the Briton is still waiting her first success on the WTA tour. While it was well known that at the Grand Slam level it had already been enough to achieve a really big coup.
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The 18-year-old doesn't want to attach too much importance to the fact that it put such a damper in the first game since her triumph in Flushing Meadows after her defeat. Everything is part of a learning process, as Raducanu said at the press conference: "I'm still new on the pitch. I think the experience will come when I play every week and experience different situations," said the 18-year-old. She knows what is happening on the field will help her learn. "I'll take it as a lesson to have more experience in the future."
Raducanu is patient
For the Briton, who was pushed into the role of favorite because of her title win in New York City, the defeat against Sasnovich is not a big surprise, after all, the Belarusian has a lot more experience on the WTA tour: "She's been a lot longer on the tour than me and maybe hundreds of times behind in a set 2: 4, while I haven't been that often behind. You mustn't forget that this is only my third WTA tournament this season "I know everything will come in time."
Despite her young age, Raducanu viewed her current situation with a refreshing foresight. She knows that these experiences are extremely important for her future career. Regardless of whether it is victory or defeat: "Every experience that happens to me in these first few months will be good in the future, and there are times when I cannot quite believe that I am really here. Come what may, I'll be grateful, these are lessons I have to learn, even if it's easy to be disappointed with a result. After all, I'm only 18 years old. "