Emma Raducanu news: Former British No 1 believes teen’s recent form should be seen as positive

WTA Tour
Emma Raducanu

Recently retired former British No 1, Johanna Konta, doesn’t think Emma Raducanu’s performances so far this season should be looked down on, but instead should be seen as positive experience.

Konta has seen it all, been there and done the same things the 19-year-old is starting to experience on her first full year on the WTA Tour, she competed at Grand Slam tournaments – albeit she didn’t win one unlike Raducanu – and she too had the weight of being the British No 1 on her shoulders.

So, who better to give the Bromley local advice at a time when she probably needs it after she dropped out of Indian Wells after losing her match to Croatia Petra Martic in the second round of the tournament, than the Australian-born 30-year-old.

“I think she has to look back on this Australian Open as a positive experience,” the Wimbledon semi finalist explained.

“The fact that she had that tough first round against Sloane Stephens and was able to come through that and also the way she was still able to compete in that second round.

“I think it’s a positive that she’s on tour and she’s going to be consistently on tour now, that’s what we need to keep on talking about, she needs time in this environment and just that consistent time in this environment – it’ll all go into the bank of experience.

The US Open champion has only managed to win two matches since the start of the season, but tennis is about to head into the clay season, and Konta doesn’t think Raducanu will be too concerned about that.

The former world No 4 revealed: “I don’t really think Emma necessarily deals with pressure like how we would be expecting her to deal with it, I think she’s incredibly mature with how she’s dealing with everything around her.

“So, I do not believe it will faze her too much changing onto the clay court, she’s definitely played on clay courts I would assume before as a junior, and obviously again it’ll just be about spending time on that surface at the highest level of the game.

“It’s an exciting time for her to discover how her game feels on the surface against these players so I think more than anything it’s again just time and adding it all into the bank of experience.”

Although she was suffering with a stiff back during her match at the BNP Paribas Open, Raducanu intends to get back on the horse and wants to play at the Miami Open which starts on March 22.

Emma Raducanu Johanna Konta

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