Raducanu ‘not demotivated’ by another heavy Swiatek defeat

Despite continuing to suffer a one-sided French Open defeat, Emma Raducanu claims she is not “demotivated” despite her subpar performance against five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.

The British number two lost all five of her matches to the world number five because of a 6-1, 6 6-2 second-round exit.

The conflict between the top-ranked players on the WTA Tour and the 41st-ranked Raducanu was once more rehashed.

Never-winning singles champion Swiatek, who is 23 years old, says she feels “always fired up” when the pair meet.

The 22-year-old said, “It really puts a lot of pressure on me right away, makes me feel like I have to do something extra or I just don’t know what to do at the moment.”

It “shifts the dynamics of the match a little,” she says, making it increasingly difficult to stay with her as her confidence increases.

As Swiatek rattled off five games in a row, Raducanu quickly lost her way after being unable to convert a break point in the opening round.

As the defending champion took the opening set in 35 minutes, the Briton’s second serve was put under intense pressure and her groundstrokes wore out.

Swiatek quickly made a break in the second set to take the lead with 2-1 after winning four of the previous five Roland Garros titles and dubbed the “Queen of Clay” for her impressive performance.

There are still questions about her form after a subpar clay-court swing, but they came back when Raducanu threatened to retaliate right away.

In a drawn-out fourth game, Swiatek was able to save three break points while maintaining her intensity under pressure, which is one of the main differences between her and her rival.

Before her opening game on Monday, Raducanu, who was ill, started to lose and quickly lost the final three games.

I just want to do better in some things, I just know. I can’t hide from that, “admitted the 2021 US Open champion,” “in front of the top players.”

Over the past three months, Raducanu has made positive progress from the outside.

After suffering from injuries for a while, she has since returned to the top 50 and has made progress by reaching the Miami Open quarter-finals and the Italian Open final 16.

Since appointing Mark Petchey as her coach in an informal “arrangement in March,” that has been a benefit of playing with more freedom.

However, she was unable to accomplish that against Swiatek.

“I think I’ve made progress since January,” Raducanu, who also lost to Swiatek at the Australian Open 6-1 6-0 in January. “Maybe not in this match, but overall,” Raducanu said.

I do believe that I have improved and that my approach to dealing with things has been much better and more consistent.

However, I still need to travel a long way to my desired destination.

Although Raducanu’s ball-striking was far below her best, the opponent’s depth of return and ability to change angles contributed to her opponent’s more rigid approach.

The fifth seed’s continued participation in rallies was a challenging task that demonstrated how difficult it is still for Raducanu to find returning ball after ball in the face of intense competition from the leading players.

Coco Gauff, the second-ranked American, was the subject of a similar incident earlier this month on the clay in Rome.

Even though Raducanu has undoubtedly made progress with her resilience, the fact that she has only won three of her 14 professional matches against top-10 players demonstrates how much she needs to get better.

It’s a completely different ball game when you play Grand Slam champions and then move up to the top five, she said.

You simply don’t really feel like there is that much court space, and you occasionally overhit because you just feel pressure constantly, against Swiatek.

One of the most challenging challenges in the game is to defeat Swiatek on the red dirt because clay is not her natural surface.

However, a grinding Raducanu responded to BBC Sport, “I don’t want to hide in a hole, so it’s okay.”

“I need to work on it over the next few days before going to court and working on it.”

Starting with a home WTA tournament at Queen’s, which will take place in less than a fortnight, Raducanu will now concentrate on the grass-court season.

Before Wimbledon begins on June 30th, she intends to compete in additional competitions in Eastbourne and Berlin.

“I want to go to Wimbledon having played more matches on the field,” Raducanu continued.