Emma Raducanu makes revealing admission on her game after pummelling at Indian Wells
Emma Raducanu bowed out at Indian Wells in a straight sets defeat to Amanda Anisimova which lasted just 52 minutes
Emma Raducanu has admitted there's a long way to go following her Indian Wells exit to Amanda Anisimova. The 23-year-old was dumped out in the Round of 32 in a match lasting just 52 minutes as the American surged to a straight sets victory.
Raducanu failed to overcome the home favourite and was immediately broken in the first game. Anisimova's strengths continued throughout the contest, leading to the British number one bowing out in less than an hour. After her first round win over Anastasia Zakharova, optimism grew surrounding Raducanu and she moved up to 23rd in the WTA rankings, but following her exit she could drop down with her rivals still in the competition.
She said: "I need to obviously be aggressive when playing those players, but I think there’s still a long way to go to be doing that and I need to use my strengths and probably mix it up a bit more. When I’m playing someone who’s at the top like that, I think they have an extra 10 miles an hour on their serve than me.
"If I’m not feeling it, that gap feels more evident in terms of weight of shot, in terms of power. You just feel a little bit behind and your punches aren’t landing as much as theirs are.
"I have to look at what I achieved in the last nine days of practice since I arrived here, and the first match was a good one for me. Today I could let it get me down if I wanted to, but overall I think the days have been better than not.”
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Raducanu has been the focus of attention since her second round Australian Open exit. In the aftermath, the 2021 US Open winner parted ways with Francisco Roig and has since gone into tournaments with a fluid coaching situation.
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the exit of her ninth coach since that win in Flushing Meadows, she felt that progress had been made. Mark Petchey returned to her team on a temporary basis as she strives to find her best form.
Speaking earlier this week, the 55-year-old said they were taking it day-by-day.He said: "I think it was Oscar Wilde who said, a second marriage is the triumph of optimism over experience. I don’t know what the great Oscar would have said about a third time going back in this situation.
"But Emma, listen, we’ve always stayed in touch. I felt like last year we got to a stage where this kind of work, the media work, was just overwhelming. And trying to do the right things, being a coach, I didn’t want anything to fall through the cracks."
