Martina Navratilova says Emma Raducanu isn’t messing around with her recent statements as the former 18-time Grand Slam champion believes the Briton is looking sharp with her game and in a great mental state.
After triumphing at the US Open in a historic way in 2021, the 22-year-old didn’t do well in any of her appearances since, losing in the 2022 and 2024 first rounds, while also missing the tournament in 2023 due to recovering from three serious surgeries. During her media day before this year’s final Grand Slam of the year started, the 22-year-old admitted to feeling tense and nervous in her last couple of US Open appearances, but that she was feeling “happy and relaxed” this time.
On Sunday, Raducanu hit the court for her opening match in New York, and it was quite something, since she destroyed Ena Shibahara 6-1 6-2 to clinch her first win at Flushing Meadows in four years. Also, it was the fastest recorded Grand Slam win for the current world No. 35.
“I think compared to four years ago, I feel relaxed, I feel happy, I feel in a way like the same off court in terms of just enjoying my tennis, enjoying practicing, enjoying competing, and the process of getting better. I think I feel the same in that sense,” she said.
Navratilova: It was perfect… Raducanu did all the right things on the court and was right on the money with her mental state
“She did all the right things on the court and then in the interview she was right on the money with her mental state and how she is thinking and how she is approaching everything. It was perfect. You could not have scripted better the answers that she gave. She is feeling it. This is not a canned answer, this is how she is feeling. She sees the results and it’s all connected, the brain and the body, the emotions and the heart,” Navratilova said on a Sky Sports Tennis broadcast.
Raducanu now turns her focus to qualifier Janice Tjen, who stunned No. 24 seed Veronika Kudermetova in the US Open first round. It will be the first meeting between the Briton and the 149th-ranked Indonesian.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
