PORSCHE TENNIS GRAND PRIX

April 18, 2024

Emma Raducanu

Press Conference

E. RADUCANU/A. Kerber

6-2, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations on your opening-match win. Can you describe your thoughts after the match.

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I'm very pleased to have got through that match. It was I think a difficult one, because Angie is just such an experienced player. She's achieved so much, and also, I'm pretty sure won this tournament multiple times, but at least once. It's obviously playing in Germany, so, you know, she's the home favorite.

I was really pleased actually with the support I got out there today. There were a few chants and some kids' voices which was really, really nice.

Yeah, I think it was a little bit different to last week where the crowd was 200% against me, but it was a fun atmosphere to play in, and especially going on late, there was still a really good crowd.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Welcome back to Stuttgart. You said after the two tough wins over the weekend that you felt like you were in some of the best form of your career, and I'm just curious, what is it right now about your tennis that you're particularly so kind of high about in terms of how you're feeling on the court?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think I have just been doing a lot of great training this year. I probably started actually training this year, because in December it was more just returning to fitness after obviously the surgeries.

I think my serve is more of a weapon now. I think the last weekend I played some great tennis. Obviously it wasn't a lot of much time to turn over since last weekend. Yeah, going back up again tomorrow, it's more just a challenge of the body, I'd say, but I think I'm mentally in a good place. I'm taking a lot of confidence from the training I'm doing.

I feel like I can actually, like, lean on that more so now because I'm actually doing the work, whereas last year it was very difficult. I mean, exactly a year ago I think was my last match before surgery. It's a bit of a milestone moment for me, and I just feel like I have, yeah, come a long way in that year.

Q. I think by my maths, it's eight wins, five losses this year. So some pretty good tennis and it's been seemingly getting better. Is it possible or fair to say this is kind of the best moment for Emma Raducanu since the US Open?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think I'm not -- I know this week is obviously a challenge for me, because, like, I would be lying if I said I wasn't tired, but I would way rather be in this position where I have played a lot of matches and I'm feeling fatigued than being super fresh and losing. It's funny, because you always want something that you can't have.

But I am playing some really good tennis. I feel like I'm a lot more dominant in my service games. I feel like I'm playing level-wise, I knew it before I went to Fed Cup even, like, training, I was playing really well. I think everyone that I was practicing with can attest to that too.

Yeah, it is, I think it's a combination of doing actual good practice weeks, doing the right things. I'm really enjoying working with Nick, my coach. It's great to have a familiar face, but I also think we're just working really well together as a team.

Q. What do you expect from Linda Noskova next round? Have you ever played against her?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I played her I think two years ago in Paris. It was completely different conditions, though. It was very slow and heavy. So it's going to be a different match tomorrow.

But, yeah, she's a big hitter, big ball striker, aggressive tennis. I mean, I don't expect very long points, but yeah, it's going to be a good match.

Q. I just have a question about what you said at the end of the match on court, because I felt like you weren't really too happy with the level you had today, so I was going to ask basically a clarification, if I got it wrong or if there was something that you felt you could have been better today?

EMMA RADUCANU: No, I think it's all relative. I think you're not going to come out every day and play lights-out, amazing tennis. I think today I handled the situation extremely well. I stayed very composed.

It's really difficult to play Angie. I mean, you know, like, at any moment she can just turn it on and battle. In the first set at the beginning we had some really long rallies. In the second set we had some really long games. I just remember so many long deuce games. Even though the score was 6-2, 6-1, it was a lot tighter in the game.

I did really well in the crucial moments. I'm very happy with the way I pulled through today and the way I was able to overcome an opponent like Angie.

Q. On the clay, you've performed pretty consistently well on clay. Maybe not necessarily results-wise, but the level that you play and the way you kind of employ your game on the surface seems probably a little bit more natural than people maybe think that you would. Is that how you feel on this surface? What do you think it is about clay that does bring out a good quality of tennis in you?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think it's a combination. I think it's, one, low expectations. You go out there, you're, like, okay, we have like two, three clay courts in Great Britain that we can use maybe and practice on it for two weeks. Hey, let's give it a go.

It's a combination of that, but it's also I think since a young age I always love moving on this surface. I love sliding. I feel like I'm pretty good at sliding on both legs, which is a strength.

I think the fitter I get and the more clean my technique gets, the more I'm able to kind of stay in the longer points and generate from further back, whereas I feel maybe before I was having to hug the baseline, play a hard court game on clay as well.

It works sometimes, but it doesn't always work. I feel like I'm developing more versatility in the way I play. I can adjust. I can adapt. That's a big strength, because, yeah, certain things, I would say, you get into a match and they don't work from the initial plan, so you have to change something. You can completely switch the dynamics of a match sometimes. Not all the time, but yeah, it just helps with that.

Q. Today you only hit 11 unforced errors on the stat sheet, 26 winners.

EMMA RADUCANU: Really?

Q. Yeah. It seems like you think you were missing more than maybe you were. I don't know. But when you are playing that well, I mean, that's an incredible ratio to have, 26 winners to 11 unforced, what do you credit that to? Is it decision-making? Is it picking the right targets? Is it patience in terms of being able to play aggressively but not be missing?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think especially when you're playing Angie, who I think is pretty well known as a counter-puncher, you need to be really careful not to overpress. She makes the court seem really small.

There were moments in that match where I didn't really know where to hit the ball because I felt like she was covering so much of the court and she was using my pace really well.

I think just not trying to squeeze the lines too much and kind of just playing the shot and almost not trying to hit winners, and accidental winners I feel like are the best way, because I wasn't today trying to blast winners around the court. I was just committing to my strokes and would hit winners by accident sometimes.

I feel like that's the best way to approach it because then you're not getting stressed out. It's just a pleasant surprise when it happens.

Q. Can you tell us a bit more about the coaching thing with Nick? I think it's someone you worked with when you were much younger and now he's back. If you can elaborate on that, it would be great.

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I feel very comfortable working with him. I have known him since I was a young age, so he's someone who I feel like I can trust, and that's a big thing for me, I think. Just having people who I know before, I would say, I got famous or I got any of the big, you know, whatever coming my way, it was just good to have someone who's known me before that.

So you know that their intentions are good, and they didn't just come and, you know, after the win and when everything is easy to just come and join.

It's a nice feeling. And also, I feel like he's known me since a young age. He knows pretty well how I operate. I would say I haven't changed at all since I was like 8, 9. But everything around me has changed, but it's mentally I feel like I'm the exact same person (smiling).

But yeah, we have obviously been doing great work this year, and it's starting to show, but the training weeks we have been doing since the start, it's just been slowly building and building. Whenever it all comes together, I think, like, big things will happen.