“Tough Like the Preparation” – Emma Raducanu on Overcoming Challenges to Be Back on Tour

18-year-old Emma Raducanu has been in the news, ever since she made her breakthrough at Wimbledon in 2021. She produced an inspired performance at the Championships in her Grand Slam debut, reaching Round of 16 without dropping a set. She then went on to win the US Open, after prevailing over Leylah Fernandez, in an all-teenager final.

Since then, she has been struggling to find her form and has been plagued by a number of injuries. “Yeah, it’s tough like the preparation hasn’t been exactly how I kind of wanted but it’s okay because just to be here is kind of lucky because everyone thought, you know, I wouldn’t really come and because, you know, they didn’t know how their leg would be after Mexico, but um, yeah, I’m just glad to be playing, to be honest,” she said.

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Emma Raducanu is just lucky to be in Indian Wells

She also spoke about how great it is to be in Indian Wells, given how picturesque the place is. Emma Raducanu appreciated the sunsets, the palm trees, and the overall environment at this much-coveted tournament. She spoke about the pressure that she felt last year when she was here after her US Open triumph. In addition, she is just focused on having fun on the court this time around at the ‘Sunshine Double’.

“Yeah, I think the pressure’s off like for sure, but I don’t really feel any different. I mean, I said I think the pressure is off but it’s probably less than last year but I mean still it’s, you’re gonna deal with the pressure. It’s just something that is part of it. And I don’t necessarily mind it because it kind of gives me some adrenaline,” she added.

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She opened up about how she had to overcome a lot of challenges to return on tour. She had to deal with Covid towards the end of the last year.

“But it’s alright because all of these challenges, I just got to accept it and yeah, overcome,” she said about overcoming these challenges.