Emma Raducanu had to overcome sickness in order to reach the second round at Roland Garros where she will face Iga Swiatek.
It was a tough battle for the Brit as she was forced to overcome a range of momentum swings to defeat Xinyu Wang 7-5 4-6 6-3 to reach the second round.
There was concern for Raducanu in the opening set as she had to have her blood pressure taken but Raducanu was resilient as she battled to victory after two hours and 45 minutes.
Speaking in her press conference Raducanu revealed that she had to overcome sickness but is proud of the way she thought as she seems to be better now, “I think I’m actually really proud of today’s match, more so than I think a lot of the matches that I played recently or in general, because I woke up and I felt really sick, to be honest,” Raducanu revealed.
“I felt bad from the morning. I was just trying and fighting through that. It was really difficult. You know, in the first set, like, I just felt it straightaway and it didn’t really go away throughout the whole match. To have kind of come through that and overcome how I was feeling, I’m really happy with, and I didn’t let it kind of, you know, it would have been easy to kind of let it drag me down.
“I mean, I feel better. I had, like, a good amount of food. I think it was also maybe just, you know, like an earlier wakeup than usual for me. Maybe my body was just lagging a little bit. After a good feed and some rest, I think I’ll probably be okay.”
Raducanu’s win was the first at Roland Garros for a couple of years before Jacob Fearnley became the second hours later with victory over Stan Wawrinka.
The Brit spoke about the improvement in clay court tennis among British tennis over the past 12 months, “I think all of us have been doing really well on the clay this year, kind of coming through. I think we all have, you know, a good chance, a good opportunity to do as best as we can,” Raducanu said.
“I think it’s great for British tennis. I think it’s great for all of us to have competition and healthy competition to want to kind of improve and, yeah, do better.”
Raducanu will be hoping to add to those wins when she takes on four-time Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek.
The Pole hasn’t been her usual self in recent months with Swiatek being more vulnerable than ever before at Roland Garros.
However, Raducanu believes this is a different tournament and is looking forward to the challenge of facing Swiatek, “I think that, I mean, every week is fresh. You know, she came through pretty comfortably today, I think feeling good. I think for the slams it’s also completely different for those top players,” Raducanu explained.
“They really kind of turn it on in the weeks that really matter. So she’s a great opponent. I’m not expecting any wavering of level. You know, given the last times we have played, she’s been on every single time. I think, yeah, it’s going to be a really, really difficult match.
“I think it’s a match for me where I can really test and challenge myself. I think exposure to the top players is great for where I’m at for my development. I think especially on clay, you know, it’s her preferred tournament probably, surface.
“She’s won it, like, four times. It’s a match where I can go out and test really just myself and go for my shots, because I know if I just push the ball, I’m probably going to get eaten. I need to, like, hit the ball. I’m looking forward to that challenge.”
This is the second consecutive Grand Slam the duo have played after Swiatek crushed Raducanu in Melbourne earlier this year.
