Australian Open: Emma Raducanu, the time of the big awakening against Coco Gauff?

It’s the story of a comet that would like to turn into a planet. To turn more regularly around the sun of victory on the circuit. Since her dazzling emergence in a historic performance at the US Open 2021 – she had become the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam, moreover without losing a single set -, Emma Raducanu has made more headlines for her many contracts with major brands than for his performance on the court. However, she has not lost interest in her young sporting career, quite the contrary.

Last season, the 20-year-old Briton simply (and logically) suffered the cast. Gone is the carelessness of the talented player who has nothing to lose, she had to play under the pressure of the expectations of an entire people and the world of tennis as subjugated as they were enthusiastic about her insolent success. And to the new status of champion in Major and star to manage, was added the discovery of life on the circuit. Because we must not forget it: in 2022, Raducanu discovered the requirements of the sequence of tournaments for a full season. And his body suffered.

Intense physical work this winter to get back in the saddle

Moreover, the interested party almost failed in the first Grand Slam of the year, the fault of a sprained left ankle contracted on the slippery courts of Auckland. But in the first round against Tamara Korpatsch, the Briton was well reassured (victory 6-3, 6-2). “Last week everything I did in training was pretty controlled taking precautions. So this 1st round was a life-size test with the unpredictability that implies. It was necessary to find its marks at the beginning, but it went well“, she confided in a press conference.

It’s happy and somehow deserved. Raducanu has thus brought together many ingredients to start 2023 under better auspices. This winter, she has secured the services of Jez Green, known for having been Andy Murray’s physical trainer for a long time, with the objective of developing more muscles and avoiding injuries to the maximum. future (although she had bad luck in New Zealand). So that she only thinks about her game and her tactics once on the court, without the Sword of Damocles above her.

“Honestly during the offseason, I must have spent six days in total on the court. But I’ve been to the gym a lot“, she also confirmed. She also joined the services of a new trainer, the German Sebastian Sachs, with whom the current seems to pass well. She also admitted to hoping that the relationship fits in time, after his multiple shortened collaborations of the last months with Torben Beltz, coaches of the British tennis federation or Dmitry Tursunov.

Raducanu – Gauff, early stars but opposite trajectories

Everything is therefore in place for her to flourish again on the court. But her Australian adventure could well be cut short since she faces in the second round one of the favorites of this Australian Open, Cori Gauff, Tuesday in a night session at the Rod Laver Arena. Raducanu thus pays for her recent drop in the standings (she is 77th) in particular due to her failure in defending her title at Flushing Meadows (eliminated from the start by Alizé Cornet last summer). Unless, on the contrary, it is a dream opportunity.

“This will probably be the first time that Emma Raducanu hasn’t felt the pressure that has accompanied her since winning the 2021 US Open. So maybe that’s a good thing that will allow her to play more freely, because she’s the kind of player, personality and talent the Top 10 needs“, points out John McEnroe to Eurosport. The pressure has indeed changed sides.

Even younger at the height of her 18 springs, Cori Gauff has nevertheless rolled her bump on the circuit since her breakthrough at Wimbledon 2019 (round of 16 at 15). Slowly but surely, she crossed the stages, in a trajectory finally radically different from that of her future adversary. To the point of settling in the Top 10 and reaching his first Grand Slam final last year at Roland-Garros. Her more structured game and constant progression make her one of the natural candidates for a Major with the expectations that come with this status.

An opportunity to be seized… even for the future

“I think Coco is in a better position to have a great career and she will win a Grand Slam in the next two years. She is the big favorite of this match. She seems to be playing better and better, serving with more consistency. It’s a match she should win… but could also put Raducanu back in the saddle“, analyzes McEnroe. And that’s the whole paradox. With 27 winning shots hit and a particularly lively forehand in his first game, Raducanu found colors and the aggressiveness that he had missed so much in 2022. she get back into US Open mode?

If she is in full possession of her faculties, why not. “I have this ankle injury in mind. But it kind of takes the pressure off, because I know my team and I have done everything to get me on the court. So it’s already a great success for all of us. And once on the court, you might as well enjoy it after working so hard to be there. In general, I feel that I hit more freely, hence my success in forehand“, she said again.

On paper in any case, the poster is salivating. She could start a rivalry that has the potential to make women’s tennis the heyday of the years to come. Whatever happens, this second round should have a merit for Raducanu: allow him to gauge his level and the amount of work to be done to prove that Flushing was not a “one shot”.