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Emma Raducanu recently reflected on her straight-sets loss at the 2024 Madrid Open, highlighting various factor that “made it difficult” for her to compete at her best level.
Raducanu crashed out of the WTA 1000 event with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Argentina’s Maria Lourdes Carle in the opening round on Wednesday, April 24. The Brit was competing at the tournament on the back of her quarterfinal exit at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, where she beat Angelique Kerber and Linda Noskova before going down against Iga Swiatek.
The week before, Emma Raducanu clinched two other wins – against Caroline Garica and Diane Parry - while representing Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers. The four-match winning streak was her longest since her title run at the 2021 US Open.
Revisiting her past few weeks of “no rest,” the Brit said:
"The last few weeks have been a lot. Starting from the Billie Jean King Cup, I haven’t stopped. It’s just been back-to-back," she said in her press, as per The Guardian.
She also acknowledged her otherwise positive run of form while pointing out the change in playing conditions that contributed to her defeat.
"I was very happy being able to help carry the team in the BJK Cup, then straight to Stuttgart with no rest, then straight here and trying to adapt to the conditions which are very different because it’s outdoors and I was playing indoors for the last month," she said.
"Many factors have made it very difficult to fully compete today but overall I’ve been playing pretty well," Emma Raducanu noted.
The 2021 US Open champion added that while she was able to pull through in her matches in Stuttgart, she was “mentally and emotionally exhausted” in Madrid.
"I think from the performance today it was very clear that mentally and emotionally I was exhausted. I was trying to push through. I was pushing through Stuttgart and was just unable to push through today," she continued.
"So yeah, it’s a shame that I was feeling so good on the court and today happened, but I guess this sport is just pretty brutal."
Emma Raducanu on being knocked out of the Madrid Open in the absence of her coach: "I just didn't deal with everything too well"
At the 2024 Madrid Open, Emma Raducanu suffered her worst loss of the season against Maria Lourdes Carle. Praising the World No. 82's impressive display, she said:
"It was a tough match because she played very well I thought. She’s a very experienced clay-courter and she has a lot more knowledge and experience on the surface. Credit to her, she played a great match and I definitely didn’t, so that’s how it is."
The former World No. 10 also bemoaned the absence of her coach Nick Cavaday, who was with her Stuttgart. She instead competed in Madrid with Iain Bates, the head of women’s tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA), by her side – for which she was grateful.
"I definitely missed him (Nick) not being here, so that kinda sucked," she said.
"I had Iain here, which was great that he was able to drop everything and come out. It’s not easy but then the circumstances wouldn’t align to how you want them to. I just didn’t really deal with everything too well," the World No. 221 added.
