Iga Swiatek believes Emma Raducanu has the game to return to the top of women’s tennis, but the reigning world No 1 has warned the British youngster that “it’s not easy”.
Defending champion Swiatek and Raducanu slugged it out in an “intense match” in the quarter-final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, but it was the former who prevailed as she came away with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-3 victory in just over two hours.
The victory earned the four-time Grand Slam winner a semi-final clash with world No 4 Elena Rybakina, but Raducanu finished the WTA 500 event with her head held high.
Having struggled since her US Open fairytale run in 2021, the 21-year-old has notched up some fine performances in recent weeks as she won both her rubbers during Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifying win over France last week and claimed impressive wins over former world No 1 Angelique Kerber and rising star Linda Noskova in the first two rounds in Stuttgart this week.
Raducanu is projected to climb 82 places in the WTA Rankings to No 221 with many hoping it is the start of her rise back into the top of the women’s game
Swiatek is backing the British star to find her best form once again, but warns that she will need consistency in her game.
“It was a pretty intense match,” the Pole said. “I was happy that I was able to keep the intensity even though we played some tough games for like two hours.
“It wasn’t easy. I had a lot of break points which I didn’t convert so still I’m happy that I could finish it with a better score in the second set than in the first.
“There are a lot of factors coming in if you want to stay consistently at the top but I hope [Raducanu] will be able to do it. For sure she has the game but it’s not easy.”
The first set lasted over an hour with Raducanu breaking in the opening game of the match before Swiatek hit back in game two. After no further breaks, Swiatek edged the tie-breaker and she admitted that it was all about being patient.
“She started playing at the beginning pretty loose, like she had nothing to lose, and I totally get that. Sometimes it is like that,” the world No 1, who leads her head-to-head record against Raducanu 3-0 after Friday’s win, said.
“But I knew I was kind of questioning if she’s going to be able to keep the same intensity throughout the whole match.
“It wasn’t about service games or return games. I was just waiting for my chances to break back and I was sure that I’m going to get them.”
Leave a Reply