Emma Raducanu showed “grit and determination” during her incredible display at the Billie Jean King Cup and the fact that one of the players she beat reserved special praise for her is a testament to her value and the impact she has had on tennis in such a short space of time.
The 21-year-old made a triumphant return for Great Britain at the BJK Cup as she won both her singles rubbers against France, first defeating world No 23 Caroline Garcia in three sets before taking down rising star Diane Parry with the match also going the distance.
Raducanu’s two wins coupled with Katie Boulter’s victory over Clara Burel gave Great Britain a 3-1 win as they qualified for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Sevilla in November.
Having struggled with injury and form for the best part of two years, Raducanu’s performances at Le Portel gave the world glimpses of the talent that helped her to win the 2021 US Open as an 18-year-old qualifier.
Her team-mates Boulter and Hariett Dart were quick to offer praise her with the former wrote “You my idol ” on one of Raducanu’s social media posts while Dart commented: “Yewwwwwww UNREAL from you .”
But perhaps the biggest compliment came from former world No 4 Garcia, someone who has seen it all before as the 30-year-old welcomed Raducanu’s return to form.
“While it was not the result we were looking for (congrats to team Great Britain @lta and specially to @emmaraducanu , it’s great to see you back playing at such a great level!), it is always an honor to play for Team France,” she wrote on Instagram.
Raducanu often draws criticism from armchair fans, but the fact that most of her colleagues are delighted to see her do well shows the detachment between the social media warriors and those who compete regularly at the top level.
And while she still has a long way to go to recapture her best form, the signs are there that a fully fit Raducanu can get some big results on the big stage.
“The level out there was really high. My last Fed Cup [BJK Cup] tie was in the Czech Republic two years ago,” Raducanu, who still finds herself outside the top 300 in the WTA Rankings. said.
“I think it’s great to see how far I’ve come, on a lot of notes. I’ve for sure improved because I feel like I’m playing some of the best tennis of my career and my life.”
And Great Britain’s BJK Cup captain Anne Keothavong was naturally delighted with her showing of “grit” during the two matches.
“Emma was in a bubble. I think you could see that from the way she approached each point. And, you know, as loud as the crowd were, as tough as everything was out there, she handled herself incredibly well and showed so much grit and determination,” she said.
“When she’s in that zone, there’s very little for me to say at the change of ends. A player of her class, she knows what she’s doing. You can see when she’s in control. And despite not converting on the first few match points, the way she was able to regroup was just… I mean, it blows my mind the way she hit that ace on break point down.”
Up next for Raducanu is the Stuttgart Open and there will be no let-up in terms of difficult matches as she faces former world No 1 Angelique Kerber in the first round and possibly eighth seed Jelena Ostapenko in the second round.
But her “budding relationship” with clay could just turn into a full-blown relationship.
“I’m actually enjoying it. I feel like my movement has always been a strength on this surface, it was more just my patience and my fitness to stay in the long rallies and build the points. It’s definitely a budding relationship,” the former world No 10 said.
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