PORSCHE TENNIS GRAND PRIX

April 18, 2024

Emma Raducanu

Press Conference

E. RADUCANU/L. Noskova

6-0, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Emma, another really good performance. How are you feeling out there on clay? What were you most happy with tonight?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think I was happy -- obviously Linda is a very tough opponent. She's been doing great and is in good form. I knew it was going to be a tough match going in, and didn't really have much time to recover last night. So to come out and play good tennis again is, yeah, it's something that I'm really pleased with.

I'm also particularly pleased with recovering from 4-3 in the second set. I had a break point. I hit a volley that was I think going a foot wide. Missed that, lost the game, and then I just refocused and kept in it, because, yeah, that's one of the turning points in the match I feel like if I would have got broken and she's serving for the set. So, yeah, I was very pleased with that.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Emma, last round you played against Angie, who is 36 years old, and now it's against Linda. She is 19. Do you feel the difference in tennis generation?

EMMA RADUCANU: Good question. I feel like the new generation is definitely dominating. If you look at the draw, I mean, everyone is very young. I mean, you look at the two people playing. They are both my year group, as well.

It's a strong generation. I knew it from juniors when we were playing Orange Bowl and everything. We knew 2002 was strong, and I think part of it helped, like, us push each other growing up in juniors. We all had to compete with each other and strive on.

But I feel like it's hard to tell. I mean, the older players have so much more experience so they can make things crafty, I say, and, like, tricky for you. When things are going well, they make it more uncomfortable maybe.

But, yeah, for example, like today, Linda has pure firepower and she can hit through a lot of people.

Q. Between what you said yesterday and today, it sounds like you're very pleased with how you're handling the clutch points in the last two matches and obviously in Fed Cup as well. What do you think is kind of the difference there? Those are those moments that are really elusive sometimes for players to kind of be nails on, like, all the time. What do you think is the difference for how it's coming together right now?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I think it helps I feel like the last two tournaments, I'd say, I have more of a serve, so it's more of a weapon. I feel like I can raise my game more on that.

I feel like at the start of the year it was more just having to work so hard and win every point from the baseline. I feel like that definitely makes a difference.

Equally I just feel like I trust all the work I have been doing on the practice courts so much. I have been working at it really hard. I wouldn't say, yeah, I do anything particularly special. I just try and stay in the present and rely and fall back on my training.

Q. Just a question about your next opponent, Iga Swiatek. Obviously played twice I think, once also here. Wonder if you remember something about that match or if you can take something about that, or if you think it's another complete story?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I mean, I remember. We actually had a pretty tough match. I think it was like 4 and 4, something like that.

But I remember I served really well in that match and it kept me in. It's obviously tough playing Iga, because she plays pretty heavy, she plays fast. She has a lot of options at her disposal. It's obviously going to be a really difficult match tomorrow but one where I have zero to lose and I think one that the crowd really want to see.

Q. Things are just getting better and better at the moment for you, but were you surprised at the scoreline at the end of the first set?

EMMA RADUCANU: No, I wasn't, to be honest, not because, you know, I was expecting to play that well and win a 6-0 set, like, Linda is a really tough opponent. I was just not thinking about the score at all. I think sometimes I have the ability to lose track of the score like I did last week when I thought the match was over, embarrassingly.

But I think that the best way that I'm kind of dealing with everything is that she's just zoning in on the games and just trying to be as stingy as possible with everything. Yeah, I'm not thinking about the score too much, because I think when you start thinking ahead about the score or whatever, then you start getting in your own head.

Q. Congratulations, and welcome to your level that we all know. I want to ask you about your physical state, because mentally you look -- I mean, we see glimpses of your highest point in your career. Physically, how are you now?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I mean, it's no secret that I'm tired. I mean, I have played, like, a lot of tennis in the last week, but I'd way rather be in this position where I have a lot of matches under my belt, feeling confident and good on the court, and tired.

I think, to be honest, it's a win-win from now. If I win, great. If I don't, I get to rest. Honestly, I'm just going to say how it is (smiling).

But obviously I'm happy that I was able to hold out physically last weekend, two three-set matches back to back, and then also here turning it over in less than 24 hours is a great achievement for me and again tomorrow. Yeah, everything is just about recovery right now.

Q. What's your relationship with clay nowadays? You look fine on it.

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I said this last week: It's a budding relationship. I feel like it's one that could become really strong in the future, and I'm just, you know, just entertaining and courting it for the moment (smiling).

Q. You were talking about the strength of the class of '02 that you guys had. Can you explain it to fans maybe who weren't paying attention to Orange Bowl back then, like, who were the standout -- why do you think that class is so strong?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I mean, I remember playing Marta since Under 12 Winter Cup. We would always have this event, and she'd always do a back flip every time. It was, like, Marta's going to do a back flip. That was cool.

Then I played Qinwen when I was, like, playing Under 14s Orange Bowl, I think, or Under 12s, and I beat her for, like, I think it was in the semis of the consolation. But that's, like, the tournament where, you know, it's the biggest draw ever, and people keep feeding into the consolation and you just felt like it's never-ending. I literally played 11 matches, two matches a day. It was crazy.

And then otherwise, like, Coco was always really strong, but she was a little bit younger, but she always came out firing.

I think at the time, like, Whitney Osuigwe was No. 1 junior, and I just remember -- I don't think I ever really beat her. I think I beat her in one GB versus USA friendly, which was a big deal. She was super jet lagged, but I take it anyway (smiling).