SYDNEY TENNIS CLASSIC

January 11, 2022

Emma Raducanu

Press Conference

E. RYBAKINA/E. Raducanu

6-0, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Rybakina obviously is a tough opponent to start the season with. What did you make of her game tonight?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, Rybakina, I mean, she's a great player who is in good form, had a great week last week. For me to come in and play my first match against her was obviously a tough challenge.

Yeah, she played a great match, and it just showed me like where I'm at in this stage of coming back, you know, recovering. Have had a tough few weeks, but I'm feeling pretty positive about things going forward.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Sorry about the result. How much of it was on your part did the nerves play a part in the match? If so, did it take you a while to get rid of those nerves and things were a bit long gone by then?

EMMA RADUCANU: I don't think it was so much nerves. I felt pretty comfortable and welcome out there on court. I had a lot of support, which is really good, but, you know, I didn't play tennis for 21 days and to come out and play Rybakina straight up.

I mean, it's tough but it's good because I'm very proud and happy that I put myself out there, you know. I could have easily said it's too soon and just play next week, but, you know, I wanted to really test where I'm at and obviously give myself some competitive points and matches. I think this will help in putting me in a better place for next week.

Q. Just on that point, is a result like this easy to put to one side, or will it sit in your mind for a little bit?

EMMA RADUCANU: Well, I think that I will brush this off, because for me, like, just getting out there, playing points, yesterday was pretty much like my second time playing competitive points for like two months, even in practice.

I'm confident that I can brush it off and just keep going, keep working, and next week I'll have a bit of match experience under my belt.

Q. Tough loss. I was curious, you talked about your condition and getting back on the court so long after your COVID diagnosis. If I could ask you, where do you rate your fitness in terms of where you'd usually be at, given you had all that time off?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, it's tough to say, because I have been building my way back. You know, straightaway I didn't go into full training, because that's probably the easiest way to get injured.

So I have been building up. I can't really say that I have a clear answer, because I wasn't -- I mean, the points weren't that extended today, but I think physically like for today's match, I don't think that was really the factor that cost the match. It's just me being a step slow, a step behind. Yeah, she was sharper and more match tight than I was.

Q. Tough luck today. How did you kind of keep your motivation throughout the match? You could see you were telling yourself, Fight. You obviously smiled and had a bit of a laugh when you got your game on the board. Tell me how you kept your motivation.

EMMA RADUCANU: I wasn't going to lose Love and Love. So that was my motivation (smiling).

Yeah, I was just fighting. I mean, at the end of the day I just want to keep putting myself out there. Even if I keep getting knocked down and it's just about getting back up and basically just falling in front. You're one step better. You learn more.

And also, like I'm just at the start of my first season. I think one of my goals is not to get too down or too high. It's to just try and keep a steady progress and tracking upwards hopefully.

Q. I just wanted to ask, I heard on the TV coverage at the coin toss you asking the umpire where your team were going to be sitting. I just wanted to ask, is that just so you don't spend the first game scanning your eyes trying to find them in the crowd? How important is to have that kind of reference point for you to look at between points and things?

EMMA RADUCANU: I was just curious. It's good to know where they are. I mean, I don't think I really was looking at them too often, but it's just helpful so you know straightaway, like if ever you felt like it, where they were.

Q. With Torben, he's notoriously a positive guy in just the way he is, and I'm curious what your conversations were like with him after the match and just how important he's been in terms of keeping perspective on everything as you start the season.

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I mean, after the match I got a box of balls and went straight to the practice court. I felt like I could have done some things better in the match, and I wanted to try and fix it straightaway, just leave with a better feeling about it.

So, yeah, we went on court. Then afterwards, I mean, he obviously said Rybakina played a great match. She wasn't missing very much.

But, yeah, there were a few things we are going to chat more in detail about tomorrow and then work on leading up to next week.

Q. Wondered what kind of your thoughts, what kind of things you were practicing straight afterwards on the court, what stuck in your mind as something you wanted to improve on straightaway?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I definitely feel like today my first-serve percentage was pretty low and there was quite a few double faults scattered around. I was just tidying that up and doing a few of those. And then a bit of movement, just getting a good feeling of the shape on the ball, and that was it really.

I just wanted to tick everything over and leave with a good feeling about things.