By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday April 18, 2022
2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu has a short resume when it comes to playing on clay, but that doesn’t stop the British No.1 from believing it can one day be her best surface.
On Monday at Stuttgart, where Raducanu will take her place in her first WTA-level clay-court event as the No.8 seed, she told reporters that she believes clay will one day be her best surface.
“It’s going to be an exciting clay season,” she said. “I’m not sure how it is going to go. I keep telling everyone around me that one day clay is going to be my surface and I still believe that.”
Raducanu has never before played an ITF or WTA event on clay, but she did split two matches on clay in Prague over the weekend at Billie Jean King Cup, defeating Tereza Martincova, 7-5, 7-5, before falling to Marketa Vondrousova, 6-1, 6-1 in Great Britain’s 3-2 loss to the Czech Republic.
“It’s going to be an exciting clay season. I’m not sure how it is going to go. I keep telling everyone around me that one day clay is going to be my surface and I still believe that.”Emma Raducanu readies for her 1st @WTA clay event @PorscheTennis. https://t.co/Ny2bIeLvUl pic.twitter.com/tY7Io2Jy6g
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) April 18, 2022
Unlike some players who are not experienced on the surface, Raducanu seems to have taken a liking to the clay game. She says she enjoys playing and moving on the surface, and she feels that playing more on clay will help her develop her all-around game in terms of point construction.
“You just have to be more crafty, I think, and I think it’s a good lesson, especially for someone younger like me to develop more skills,” she said. “ I’m looking forward to spending more time on the clay as the years go by because I do like sliding and moving on it, and it’s just about again being able to repeat over and over.”
Raducanu will face qualifier Storm Sanders in first-round action on Wednesday in Stuttgart.