Iga Swiatek continued her Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Stuttgart title defence with victory over Emma Raducanu 7-6, 6-3 in a win that saw the Brit not go down without a fight despite the straight sets defeat.
Swiatek though did not pay no mind to their match-up with the Pole saying that she plays tough players every week and Raducanu is no different so isn’t something specific about it.
“I mean, for fans, for sure, it’s nice,” she said. “Well, I mean, we have plenty of players to play against on WTA Tour, so I wouldn’t say Emma is the one specific that I’m looking forward to play with. Because we have tough matchups (on the tour) every week. Doesn’t really matter for me.”
She was also quizzed on how Raducanu has changed since then and she gave a few specific examples. “Well, honestly I played so many matches since then, I don’t really remember how it went two years ago,” she continued. “I just remember I was surprised with how she can spin the ball on her forehand, because we never played before. So I never knew she’s capable of that, and today I knew that.”
“I think she has a really good placement. She was serving, you know, even though it wasn’t like 180, it was sometimes on the line and pretty tricky. So she’s mixing it up. Yeah, she has a pretty good serve,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say there was much difference in that, but for sure, you know, she’s older, she has learned a lot. I would say the intensity was a little bit higher.”