ROTHESAY INTERNATIONAL

June 26, 2024

Emma Raducanu

Devonshire Park

Press Conference

E. RADUCANU/J. Pegula

4-6, 7-6, 7-5

THE MODERATOR: Emma, a great performance. By ranking, it's your best-ever win. Just talk us through how pleased you are with your performance today.

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, of course I'm very happy. Obviously Jessica is a really class opponent. She's someone who is very in form right now. Yeah, it's a great result for me and one I need to enjoy and cherish. And just the way I managed and handled the situations in that match, I'm extremely proud of.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Does it feel like a real sort of landmark result for you to have done that from match point down to have won a real hard three-setter match against a player of Jessica's quality? Does it feel like a real landmark, sort of turning point to you?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I don't know if I have ever saved match point before and won. I think that's a first. Yeah, something I'm obviously very proud of myself for sticking through, and I was pretty much down the entire match.

I fought through some really difficult situations with myself I'd say in the second set and first set. So I think the way I was able to turn a corner and just, you know, try and just look forward, there is no turning back at all, you know, like second chances don't really come by.

I think the regret of not, like, fighting and not trying my absolute best would have really haunted me after the match.

Q. You slipped towards the end of the third set there. Were there any after-effects of that?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think it's a little bit green, like, on the court, the back, especially I say as the day goes on. But, no, physically obviously it was a tough match. It was a long three-setter, very demanding emotionally and physically. But I don't have, like, any injuries. Yeah, blisters, but that's it.

Q. How much confidence does a win like that give you going into a Grand Slam?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, it gives a lot of confidence, I'd say. I think I took a lot of confidence already from just the training I have been doing, and I think this is just reassurance, I'd say, like, I kind of knew all the hard work would lead to somewhere, and it's nice to see, you know, on a match court against a top opponent who even when I was up in the third set, you know, it's never over.

And the conditions were getting harder and harder to manage as the balls were getting heavier. It was like beach balls at the end of the third set. So I think the way I was just able to compose myself being Love-40 in the last game as well and serve it out is something I have to take amazing pride from.

Q. Is this the most consistently you have played since 2021?

EMMA RADUCANU: I would say it's more of just like a fresh start in mentality, a fresh start just all across the board. I'd say I'm not turning back, not looking back. I think everything has happened for a reason, and I think I'm just playing a lot more free.

Today I was definitely fighting really hard in the match when before I might have, you know, maybe not fought as hard and lost in two sets.

So I think it's more just consistency and attitude and showing up, and obviously I have been doing good work with my tennis so it's able to show, but I think it all starts in the mind.

Q. You seemed very emotional in the end. It obviously meant a lot to you, speaking about how meaningful that result was for you.

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I'm not gonna lie. Because I had some tough circumstances to handle overnight, so I had to, you know, really just pick myself up and, yeah, crack on with it.

Q. Are you able to share something about what kind of circumstances those were?

EMMA RADUCANU: No, I'd prefer to keep those private, but I think that it's just a great message for anyone who, you know, they think they can't, like, get themselves going or fight through anymore, and you can always, even when you think you're down and, you know, there is no chance of coming back, there is always a way.

I think will is a big thing, and it can get you through a lot of difficult situations.

Q. I'm just curious about this. You have kind of come here and talked about this kind of new outlook and stuff that's sort of developed over the time since the break after Madrid. Is that something you have spoken to a professional about at all, a sports psychologist or something, or is this something you've kind of figured out by yourself?

EMMA RADUCANU: I think it's just the people around me. I have had really good, I'd say, consistency and work. At the end of day, that's something I was lacking in the last few years.

So to see that compound over time, and although the results might not happen straightaway like at the start of the year, I think I'm starting to reap the awards. To get my first top-10 win today is obviously a massive deal for me.

Yeah, I'm very pleased with that and just consistency and putting my head down and putting myself on the line every day.

Q. You wrote on the camera, I believe, "New start." Was this the new start you were looking for?

EMMA RADUCANU: I'd say the new starts have kind of, you know, been a little bit coming, I'd say, since right before Nottingham. I have been feeling it.

I just say, like, I think today I really battled through and managed to overcome the circumstances very well. Yeah, it wasn't easy for me obviously, like, it was a tough day, like, to start with, so I think the way that I was able to overcome that, it's just something I'm very proud of.

Q. Is that also a testament to the fact that you're just loving competing again and playing such a close match as this?

EMMA RADUCANU: Yeah, I'd say I am just enjoying the competition and just enjoying the fight. In a way, it's, like, okay, how far can I actually go, like, the curiosity of, like, okay, I'm, like, really pretty much down and out, everyone's counting me out, like the next people were warming up for the match, and just seeing, okay, can I actually turn this around and maybe change the dynamics? Because it's very difficult to recover after you have had a lead. I think mentally it's tough, you know, for the opponent to be, okay, I have had a lead and now I've lost it, and it can kind of change the dynamics a little bit.

I would say I took a lot of confidence from Fed Cup being a set and a break down, and I kind of, in a weird way, potentially thought I could maybe do the same thing if I focused in on a few areas of my game. And I was able to, and yeah, a set and 3-1 down, match point down, yeah, I played some really clutch tennis to get through.