British No. 1 Emma Raducanu may have had a modest run in Asia, but she remains optimistic about her upcoming appearance in Wuhan. She recently reflected on her performance so far in the Asian swing, sharing how hard it was for her to come to terms with a second-round defeat at the Korea Open and a third-round finish at the China Open.
What Did Emma Raducanu Say About Her Defeats to Jessica Pegula and Barbora Krejčíková?
The Brit began her Asian swing at the Korea Open, comfortably dispatching Jaqueline Cristian in straight sets in the opening round. She looked strong in the second round against Barbora Krejčíková, taking the first set 6-4, but after squandering three match points in the match, she eventually fell 6-4, 6-7(10), 1-6.
Raducanu then turned her attention to the WTA 1000 event in Beijing, entering as the No. 30 seed with a direct second-round entry. She began with a convincing 6-3, 6-3 win over Spain’s Cristina Bucșa. In the following round against Jessica Pegula, Raducanu came close to pulling off an upset, taking the first set 6-3 but ultimately losing 6-3, 6-7(9), 0-6 after again squandering three match points.
Before heading to the Wuhan Open, the former US Open champion admitted it had been challenging to process her losses to Pegula and Krejcikova.
“Yeah, I think it was hard for me. The last two matches that I lost, I had match points in both and it’s not something that’s really happened to me before, and then to happen twice in a week was pretty new to get my head around,” she said in her press conference.
Raducanu said her second loss was easier to move past than the first because she felt she played better, improved her level, and quickly refocused on training.
“The second match, I found it easier to get over than the first because I know I was playing some better tennis and just improving with my level. I feel like I didn’t take too long to kind of dwell on it and just got straight back to work,” she said.
However, the Brit seems positive with her graph and is happy about her progress.
“And I do feel like I’m improving and making progress. I still see the differences in where I want to go, but I know I’m doing good work day-to-day to try and get there,” she added.
Raducanu will soon start her campaign in Wuhan against the USA’s Ann Li. The duo have competed just once on tour in Eastbourne, with Raducanu prevailing 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-1.
