The second largest court in the Prague Štvanice complex for eight hundred spectators experienced a performance by Grand Slam champion Emmy Raducanu on Friday. The nineteen-year-old tennis star dealt with Tereza Martincová after the fight, even though it was her professional premiere on clay.
Raducanu won 7: 5, 7: 5 and compared the status of the duel to advance to the final of the Billie Jean King Cup between the Czech Republic and Great Britain to 1: 1.
“It was my first clay game in four years. I had to find a way to adapt to the surface and I was pleased to see how I did it in the end,” said a Toronto native who shocked New York in September with an unprecedented qualifying drive. up to the winning trophy, without losing the set.
After the fairytale triumph, there was a slowdown, but Raducanu did not allow another of the many defeats at Štvanice.
“Lately I’ve often been able to play well for a hundred, a hundred and a half, but then my level suddenly went down. It was similar here, I lost in the second set, but I was finally able to overcome it,” she described as she turned the second act from 1: 4.
“It’s a big personal victory for me. A step in the right direction. It gives me confidence, I feel I’m going physically up,” the global superstar smiled.
At the same time, clay is a mysterious, unexplored part of tennis life for her. During the week, she learned in Prague how to play on the crumbs of orange.
“Day after day, I had to build my movement on clay, I didn’t start playing points until Wednesday, so I really didn’t have much time,” she explained.
“When something went wrong in the morning, I went to court in the afternoon to improve it. The goal for me was to leave every day happy, with a good feeling. I succeeded here,” she described how she learned to like clay in Štvanice. .
She surprised Tereza Martincová and captain Petr Pála with her tactics in Friday’s race.
“Tereza is a tough opponent. I know she likes to play fast, so I tried to make it impossible for her, even with higher balls and rhythm changes. It worked very well,” said Raducanu, the daughter of a Romanian father and a Chinese mother.
“Emma pleasantly surprised me in some things, because in certain situations it was better than I expected. She played more up, varied the game more, she thought a lot,” said the Czech non-playing captain.
“This is not the style of tennis I excel at. I have an overall problem with clay, it’s much more challenging for my technique. That’s why I was surprised by how Emma played,” Martincová added.
As Pála remarked, now the world twelve will certainly come up with something special against the Czech number one Markéta Vondroušová, with whom she should compete for the second point in the first match on Saturday.
Emma is able to catch up, I think it will be a tactical battle and a lot
interesting match. It will be more cold, it will be harder to end the balls, there will be longer exchanges, “the most successful captain in the history of the now former Fed Cup predicted the course of the team number one.
Raducanu said about Vondroušová that she is a great player.
“Roland Garros was in the finals, so she loves clay. I’m really looking forward to the match against her, it will be a major challenge for me. It will be one of the hardest clay matches I can imagine, but I’ll put everything into it,” she said. .
The British captain also had great respect for the 22-year-old native of Sokolov.
“Markéta is an exceptional clay player, much more experienced than any of our tennis players, especially in clay, which shows the years. She was excellent against Harriet Dart today, she didn’t allow her anything at all,” said Anne Keothavong.
However, after the success of Raducan, the British do not feel defeated in advance. “The Czechs are huge favorites, we are a big outsider. But we feel we are not without a chance,” Keothavong said.
Her team leader then added: “And by the way, the British love to be outsiders.”
