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Emma Raducanu recently opened up about her "milestone moment" in Stuttgart following her victory in the first round of the 2024 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Raducanu defeated two-time Stuttgart Open champion Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-1 to secure her place in the second round. The Brit was dominant throughout the match, where she hit 26 winners and made only 11 unforced errors, while her opponent struggled with 29 unforced errors.
With this win, the former World No. 10 prevented Kerber from achieving her 17th win, a record since the Stuttgart Open transitioned to clay in 2009.
During the post-match press conference, Emma Raducanu opened up about how she is training hard and trying to return to full fitness from the three surgeries (one on each wrist and one on her ankle) she had last year.
"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," Raducanu said.
Raducanu also expressed her satisfaction with the win, especially considering her defeat to Jelena Ostapenko in the same tournament last year before her surgeries. The 21-year-old said that her win against Angelique Kerber this year felt like a "milestone moment" signifying how long she has come since last year.
"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," she added.
Emma Raducanu also talked about how she thinks her serve is her "weapon" and credited her mental strength and rigorous training for her current confidence and success.
"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," Raducanu said.
Emma Raducanu on fans supporting her at Stuttgart Open: "Really pleased with the support I got out there"
During the recent press conference, Emma Raducanu expressed her satisfaction with her victory against Angelique Kerber. She stated that playing German was all the more difficult because she had previously won the tournament and was a home favorite.
"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," Raducanu said.
Raducanu also shared her gratitude for the support she received from the spectators, particularly the motivating chants from a few children in the audience.
"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," she added.
Emma Raducanu will go up against Linda Noskova in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
