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Emma Raducanu was thrashed 6-0, 6-1 by Elena Rybakina in her first-round encounter at the 2022 Sydney Tennis Classic. The defeat was Raducanu's third in a row.
Speaking to members of the media after the encounter, Raducanu said she wanted to "test" where she was at by giving herself "competitive points and matches." The Brit claimed she was proud to have played in Sydney after spending three weeks away from tennis while recovering from COVID-19.
"I felt pretty comfortable and welcome out there on court. I had a lot of support, which is really good," Raducanu said. "I didn't play tennis for 21 days and to come out and play Rybakina straight up. I mean, it's tough but it's good because I'm very proud and happy that I put myself out there.
"I could have easily said it's too soon and just play next week, but I wanted to really test where I'm at and obviously give myself some competitive points and matches. I think this will help in putting me in a better place for next week," she added.
Speaking about the defeat to Rybakina, the 2021 US Open champion said she is confident she will "brush this off" and have a good run at the Australian Open starting next week.
"I think that I will brush this off, because for me, like, just getting out there, playing points, yesterday was pretty much like my second time playing competitive points for like two months, even in practice," she said. "I'm confident that I can brush it off and just keep going, keep working, and next week I'll have a bit of match experience under my belt."
Raducanu stressed that this is her first full season on the WTA tour and is currently focused on making "steady progress."
"I mean, at the end of the day I just want to keep putting myself out there. Even if I keep getting knocked down and it's just about getting back up and basically just falling in front. You're one step better. You learn more," the Brit said. "I'm just at the start of my first season. I think one of my goals is not to get too down or too high. It's to just try and keep a steady progress and tracking upwards hopefully."
"After the match I got a box of balls and went straight to the practice court" - Emma Raducanu
Emma Raducanu returned to the practice courts immediately after her crushing defeat to Elena Rybakina. The Brit explained her reasons for doing so in her post-match press conference.
"After the match I got a box of balls and went straight to the practice court," Raducanu said. "I felt like I could have done some things better in the match, and I wanted to try and fix it straightaway, just leave with a better feeling about it."
The Brit revealed she was unhappy with her first serve success rate, and that she worked on that and her movement with coach Torben Beltz right after the match.
"I definitely feel like today my first-serve percentage was pretty low and there was quite a few double faults scattered around," Raducanu said. "I was just tidying that up and doing a few of those. And then a bit of movement, just getting a good feeling of the shape on the ball, and that was it really. I just wanted to tick everything over and leave with a good feeling about things."
