US OPEN

August 30, 2022

Emma Raducanu

Press Conference

A. CORNET/E. Raducanu

6-3, 6-3

THE MODERATOR: Your thoughts on the match.

EMMA RADUCANU: I mean, I think it was a pretty tough match against a really experienced player.

Yeah, I mean, obviously disappointed to lose first round. Yeah, I mean, credit to Alize, she played pretty well.

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. On the medical timeout, I assume it was blisters you were having checked. Did they affect you much? Do you have an idea how you can stop picking them up?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I mean, I've been getting some blisters, like, throughout the weeks in the States. But I think that's just down to humidity and stuff.

But, yeah, I got a new one. But, like, you know, you tape it up and move on it. It's a blister. Not much you can do about it.

It is what it is. Sometimes these things happen in these conditions. But, yeah, not much I could really control.

Q. Seemed quite windy particularly at the south end. Did that affect the way you played? Did you try to find ways of dealing with it?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think it was quite windy. It was blowing, like, from back-to-front. It was quite difficult for me especially to find my ball toss. I think I was hitting quite a lot of serves long. I just struggled to adapt to it really.

And, I mean, it's something that both players have to kind of deal with. She just dealt with it better than me today.

Q. It's very early days after the defeat. Is it kind of difficult for it to sink in now? I mean, how does it feel at this very moment about not being the champion?

EMMA RADUCANU: Well, I mean, obviously really disappointing, really sad to leave here. It's probably my favorite tournament.

But also, I mean, in a way happy because it's a clean slate. I'm going to drop down the rankings. Climb my way back up.

Yeah, I mean, in a way the target will be off my back slightly. Yeah, I just have another chance to claw my way back up there.

I've been doing some really good work in the last six weeks especially. Yeah, just looking forward to kind of putting more of those weeks together consistently, then we'll see what happens.

Q. In terms of the last couple weeks, you were talking about finding the freedom, really being able to go for it. How did you find trying to play that way, even if that was your game plan today, play loosely?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think also the way that the conditions were, it was quite difficult because the ball was moving around for me to really swing. Alize's defense was pretty good. Like, I thought she was just scrapping everything back. There were like junk balls in the middle of the court. With the wind blowing around, it was really difficult. She just kept getting it back.

Maybe in the future I can look to improve my net game to play players like that. It's something I haven't done much of, so not really going to try it out in a match. The occasions I did, she, like, read where I was going and, like, hit a pretty good lob.

Yeah, it's difficult, of course. I mean, it's been a positive few weeks of tournaments, I'd say. I improved in confidence each week. Yeah, today was a tough match. I mean, I think that I wasn't probably, like, going for my shots as much because of the conditions, as well.

But, I mean, it's all positive.

Q. I know it's very soon after the match, but what are your thoughts on your future with Dmitry Tursunov? Do you think that's something you might continue with or when will you make that decision?

EMMA RADUCANU: I probably won't make it right now, like after the match.

Yeah, as I said, we had a good six weeks in the States here. But, yeah, I haven't really thought about it, to be honest.

Q. This is a clean slate for you in your career. Going forward, what is going to be the most important factor, physical, mental, technical, as you try to become a Grand Slam champion again?

EMMA RADUCANU: I'd say just putting consistent weeks together. If I look at how much tennis I played this year, or training I've done, it's very, very minimal. We, like, actually counted the days. From, like, Rome to a bit after Wimbledon, I only played tennis for, like, 14 days in two months and a half or something. It was pretty wild.

But, as I said, six weeks of training, already feel like I'm so much better as a player. I definitely feel like I am growing in confidence.

I think the most important thing for me is just consistency of these weeks, of training, of competing. You lose a match, you're on the practice court like two days later or something. It's just not having these big chunks of gaps.

Q. How long do these losses generally stay with you? Will this be okay by tomorrow are do these experiences stick with you for days and weeks?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think it depends on the match. Some matches you get over them pretty quickly. Like after the match, you're fine. You played a good level. You do your treatment, you do your recovery, straight on the bike or doing stuff, then next day training again.

Other matches, other losses, it can take a bit of time. Like for me in the past, I would get really, really down because I wasn't used to losing.

I think this year has definitely helped in a way. I know I can't really mourn over a loss because I'll just take weeks. I kind of got better at just picking myself back up quicker and quicker.

But this one obviously hurts a bit because it's my favorite tournament and obviously like a lot of emotions in the past year. Yeah, I mean, I'm proud for putting myself out there every match, every day. Like I know I'm pushing myself to be the best I can. There's not much I can do.

Q. Do you think there will be a small part of you that might feel freedom in not having US Open champion as a prefix to your name on and off the court?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think in a way, yeah. It is a clean slate. I can just start again. I don't know what my ranking will be. Probably pretty low down.

With perspective, actually as a 19-year-old, I've had not a bad year. To be top hundred, if you told me that a year ago, I'd take it.

But, like, I think it would be nice in a way to kind of just start over, start fresh. I mean, off the court, I don't think it will make much of a difference, to be honest.

Q. Soon after the match, but after this loss, what do you want to do next? Do you want to take some time off, a few days, or back to the practice court?

EMMA RADUCANU: I want to go to bed. I mean, like I don't know (smiling). Straight after the match, I'm not really thinking about my next plans.

I know there's still some tournaments left in the season. It could be exciting for me to start my kind of climb back up there in these tournaments in the rest of the year, be like, Okay, how far can I go till the end of year?

Yeah, I mean, we'll see what happens.

Q. Is there something perhaps appealing about playing smaller tournaments as a lower-ranked player? It's early days, would you think about doing that perhaps than taking wild cards into bigger events?

EMMA RADUCANU: Well, I actually think for me, like, the most exciting thing is, like, trying to do well at, like, each of the different tournaments.

Regardless of what it is, it sounds weird, but, like, US Open defending champion, obviously it would have been great to defend the title. But, like, I kind of want new experiences. In a way I've kind of done that so, like, I want another tournament.

It doesn't really matter what it is. I think any player would be happy to win a tournament. I think it makes a massive difference no matter what the level is.

Yeah, I think I'll play some 250s. I think the rest of the year is that. We'll see what the calendar holds.