Emma Raducanu makes ‘new generation’ dominance claim as she opens up on junior rivals
Emma Raducanu believes the “new generation is definitely dominating” as the British ace continued her resurgent campaign in Stuttgart.
Raducanu delivered a scintillating performance to beat Linda Noskova 6-0, 7-5 and set up a quarter-final encounter against Iga Swiatek – a rematch of their clash at this event two years ago.
Aged 21, the Brit is just one year younger than Swiatek – the current world No 1 – while Raducanu’s peers Zheng Qinwen and Marta Kostyuk played each other at the WTA 500 event on Thursday.
And the former US Open champion has not been surprised by the recent surge in young talent towards the top of the women’s game – having played against many current stars as a junior.
“I feel like the new generation is definitely dominating,” she said.
“If you look at the draw, everyone is very young. You look at the two people playing [Kostyuk and Qinwen] – they are both my year group as well.
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“It’s a strong generation. I knew it from juniors when we were playing Orange Bowl and everything. We knew 2002 was strong, and I think part of it helped us push each other growing up in juniors. We all had to compete with each other and strive on.
“The older players have so much more experience so they can make things crafty, I say, and, like, tricky for you. When things are going well, they make it more uncomfortable maybe.”
Qinwen and Kostyuk contested one of the matches of the tournament so far on Thursday night, with Ukrainian star Kostyuk battling her way to a 6-2, 4-6 7-5 victory.
Quarter finals ticket secured! ✅@marta_kostyuk wins the last match of the day against Qinwen Zheng and reaches the quarter finals for the first time in Stuttgart!#porschetennis #PTGP24 pic.twitter.com/34O7qddo7I
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 18, 2024
Kostyuk has been one of the most-improved players of 2024, while Zheng herself had a significant breakthrough by reaching this year’s Australian Open final.
Raducanu has not been surprised to see both women and Kostyuk’s next opponent – US Open champion Coco Gauff – thrive, having played all three regularly during her junior years.
She said: “I remember playing Marta since Under 12 Winter Cup.
We would always have this event, and she’d always do a backflip every time. It was, like, ‘Marta’s going to do a backflip.’ That was cool.
“Then I played Qinwen when I was playing Under 14s Orange Bowl, I think, or Under 12s, and I beat her – I think it was in the semis of the consolation.
“That’s, like, the tournament where, you know, it’s the biggest draw ever, and people keep feeding into the consolation and you just felt like it’s never-ending. I literally played 11 matches, two matches a day. It was crazy.
“And then otherwise, Coco was always really strong, but she was a little bit younger, but she always came out firing.”
