CITI OPEN

July 31, 2022

Emma Raducanu

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Emma, welcome to D.C. How do you feel playing at the Citi Open for the first time in your career?

EMMA RADUCANU: I'm really looking forward to playing here because I really like the city, from what I've seen so far. The fans and the spectators have been great. It's amazing how they can get so close and watch the action live. It's something that I wish there was more of when I was growing up, going to the tournaments, getting so close. I think it's really inspirational for everyone, but the younger generation especially.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. I know you're a big history buff. I'm curious, Washington has a lot to see, anything that you sought out to try to see while you were here?

EMMA RADUCANU: One thing I've already seen is Georgetown. I had a friend who went to the uni there. I walked around campus. It was really pretty.

I also want to see the Pentagon. I think that's really good. I'm really interested in, like, intelligence, as well. That would be one thing that I'd want to see before leaving D.C.

Q. By any stretch of the imagination you've had a remarkable year since winning the US Open. Can you share some thoughts what you've learned about yourself over the past year.

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I would say that, take away the US Open, the results I've had in the past year wouldn't have been terrible for any 18-, 19-year-old. I have to take a step back and give myself a pat on the back, as well.

This year was always going to be pretty tricky, trying to find my feet at this sort of level. I skipped every stage basically. I went from playing a few 25s to playing the top 10 or playing the slams and everything. Still managed to win a round or two in some bigger events. I'm quite proud of myself in that way.

I've learnt that I'm pretty resilient. I've pretty much been knocked down every single week literally in front of everyone, get back up every single time.

It's just a fun learning experience for me. I would say that.

Q. From winning the US Open, how are you going to change maybe how you prepare for this US Open? How are you going to use the Citi Open to prepare for US Open?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think every week leading up to the US Open, it's great to build from it. I mean, I started training, like, two weeks ago. I think that with every week, you learn a bit more of what works, what doesn't work.

Starting here in the Citi Open, you'll see what happens on the match court, you'll analyze it, you'll be like, Hey, this didn't work, I need to do this better for the next match.

You use every single week as an opportunity to try to do that. I'm not really thinking too far ahead about the US Open, that I need to win the US Open again. I don't. I just want to improve.

I'm focusing on what I'm training on every single day. That's how the best results happen, when you're that focused on what you're doing every single session.

Q. I wanted to ask you about your first tournament here in Dmitry. How did you decide to work with him? What has it been like so far?

EMMA RADUCANU: Since, like, Miami I didn't really, like, have a coach. I sort of took a period to just settle. I didn't want to rush into anything. It's just a trial week here. We're going to see how it goes.

Yeah, I think it was a great opportunity to trial him, so that's what we're doing. Yeah, see how it goes.

Q. You're still very young obviously. I'm curious how much your parents are still involved in your career, helping you make decisions about various things.

EMMA RADUCANU: Well, I am pretty young. Like, some longer trips, my mum might travel, my dad. I think that my mum just sees me as her 19-year-old daughter who has kind of been just like thrust upon everything. She likes to be there for me if I ever need the reassurance.

I think they're just as involved as any parents really who have a teen daughter. I think whether that's a regular uni student asking them for advice, where to go to do the summer school or internship or whatever, they're just as involved, it's just in a completely different profession.

Q. Are they on this trip with you?

EMMA RADUCANU: My mum is here, yeah.

Q. You mentioned it was a one-week trial. Is your plan to reevaluate this week already and decide whether you're going to go to your birthplace city, Cincinnati beyond that, with him?

EMMA RADUCANU: No, I mean, we started last week. He already had prior commitments about Toronto, so he couldn't make it anyway. For the last two weeks we've been trialing. We just take it week by week really.