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There is no doubt that the Emma Raducanu-Mark Petchey partnership has the potential to be successful, but one Sky Sports commentator says there is a key area that could be a “problem” in the long run.

The pair’s connection goes back to her junior days as they worked together during the summer of 2020 – the year before Raducanu made her breakthrough at Wimbledon with a run to the fourth round before going on to win the US Open.

Having hired and fired several coaches since her 2021 US Open fairytale run, Raducanu linked up with Petchey at the Miami Open in March and they had instant success.

Following a difficult couple of months, the 22-year-old reached her maiden WTA 1000 quarter-final as she defeated eighth seed Emma Navarro and 17th seed Amanda Anisimova before losing against fourth seed Jessica Pegula.

That run helped her to surge back into the top 50 of the WTA Rankings and there is talk that Raducanu and Petchey could make their coaching partnership permanent.

Sky Sports’ Jonathan Overend feels Petchey is the right man for the job.

“When Petchey appeared courtside in Miami, the results were instant, it was the best tournament of her year so far,” he told Sky Sports Tennis.

“Raducanu has talked about the desire to ask lots of questions to whoever her coach may be, and Petchey absolutely has answers whenever he is asked questions, so I can imagine the conversations between the two being very in-depth.

“It’s encouraging for the future because I still believe Raducanu has a big, big result in her and it may come sooner than we all think.”

Raducanu has admitted recently that “it’s working really well, and it’s nice to be with someone that I feel comfortable with”, but for now the relationship is still “informal”.

Petchey is once again in her camp at the Madrid Open, but if they do decide to make it “formal” then there is one obstacle they need to clear.

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Petchey is currently working with the Tennis Channel in the United States and that could have an impact on his ability to travel with Raducanu to several tournaments.

Overend added: “The problem is going to be time and commitment because Petchey has a job with the Tennis Channel in the States, which takes up a lot of his time.

“The chopping and changing of coaching by Raducanu just illustrates a business mindset whereby if something isn’t working, she is going to change it.

“She is absolutely within her right to make sure she is as comfortable as possible with the people around her. Tennis is a very isolated sport, you’re on the road with your coach and often it’s just the two of you so that one-to-one relationship is so important.”

The post Emma Raducanu’s link-up with new coach could face one major obstacle appeared first on Tennis365.

Iga Swiatek believes she was always going to have an advantage over Alex Eala on the clay courts at the Madrid Open, although she admits she initially struggled to find her rhythm at the start of their match.

Barely a month after Eala stunned five-time Grand Slam winner Swiatek in the quarter-final of the Miami Open, they had a rematch at the WTA 1000 tournament in the Spanish capital.

The Pole never got going on the hard courts in the United States as she went down 2-6, 5-7 against the 19-year-old, who also beat reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys and 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko before going down to Jessica Pegula in the semi-final.

Early on in Madrid it looked like Eala would pull off another famous upset win as she broke in the opening game of the match and went on to win the first set, but Swiatek eventually settled and claimed a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory.

The defending Madrid Open champion was always going to up her game on her favourite clay surface as she has an 88% win-loss record on the red dirt and Thursday’s win took her overall tally to 91–12.

“On clay I feel like I have a little bit more advantage sometimes in the situations, where Alex could take more advantage on faster hard courts,” Swiatek stated.

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The world No 2 added: “It wasn’t easy to get into the rhythm and feel the right timing, so I’m happy that I was just patient.

“I felt like I was making too many errors from everything, so there wasn’t like one specific adjustment I had to make.

“For sure I wanted to keep my margins and play a little bit more safe, to just play more balls in because I was making some unforced errors that weren’t really necessary.”

With her run at the Miami Open, Eala surged into the top 80 of the WTA Rankings as she became the highest-ranked Filipina in WTA Tour history while she has already secured a direct entry into the French Open.

Many believe there is more to come from the teenager.

When asked about the hype surrounding Eala, the Pole replied: “I understand that there is hype about the young players, but you gotta be focused on yourself, and honestly, I did not realise… I kind of had other things to think about.”

Eala herself was pleased with the way she managed to compete against four-time French Open champion Swiatek, but she still has a lot to learn.

“I’m happy with the match, happy with how I competed,” she said. “Obviously up a set and a break is a good situation to be in, but you have to remember that there’s another person on the other side of the court. More so, a multiple Roland Garros champion. She did well also … Things to take back and to learn.

“What was different [between Madrid and Miami] was that, in my opinion, was that she executed better in the important moments, and she had a little higher level than me in specific moments of the match.”

The post Iga Swiatek reveals edge over Alex Eala in Madrid and discusses hype around rising star appeared first on Tennis365.

Iga Swiatek broke a Madrid Open record previously held by Serena Williams as she gained revenge over Alex Eala in her opening match inside the Caja Magica.

Last month, world No 2 Swiatek was stunned by Eala at the Miami Open, losing 6-2, 7-5 in one of the most difficult losses she has faced in recent years.

It looked as if history would repeat itself early on in Madrid, with Swiatek hitting a staggering 25 unforced errors on her way to dropping the opening set, and twice falling a break down in set two.

However, though still not at her full-flowing best, Swiatek was able to raise her level and ultimately forced her way past her teenage opponent in a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory on Court Manolo Santana.

“It wasn’t easy to get into the rhythm and feel the right timing, so I was happy that I was just patient,” said Swiatek in her on-court interview.

“I always love playing here. For sure, I’m just proud of my performances in the last two years and it’s great to have this experience.

“For sure, the conditions are different than last year – I think it’s like 10 degrees more – so I feel like the game is going to be a little bit different, but I’m just happy to be here and happy to enjoy Madrid.”

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Having reached the final of the Madrid Open in 2023 and winning the title in 2024, beating Aryna Sabalenka to claim the title, the Pole undoubtedly has an impressive pedigree at the event.

And, having now won 87.5% of her matches at the tournament, she now holds the highest win percentage in Madrid Open history.

The record was held by Williams, who won two Madrid Open titles on her way to holding an 87% record at the tournament.

Things will initially not get any easier for the second seed, who will now face 31st seed Linda Noskova in the third round, the Czech having beaten Maria Lourdes Carle 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday.

Swiatek leads the head-to-head between the two 4-1, though she was famously stunned by Noskova in the third round of the 2024 Australian Open.

The Pole has won all three of their contests since then, though their last two matches have gone the distance, with Swiatek triumphing 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-4 when they last met at the Qatar Open back in February.

“Well, we always play amazing matches, so hopefully this one is also going to be enjoyable and good entertainment,” added Swiatek.

“I’m just going to focus on my performance Linda’s a great player and I have huge respect for her, so we’ll see.”

Looking further ahead through the draw, she has received a significant boost.

Swiatek could have faced a rematch against 23rd seed Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round, less than a week after the Latvian beat the Pole in Stuttgart for a sixth win in as many meetings.

However, Ostapenko crashed out of the Madrid Open on Thursday, falling 7-6(2), 6-2 to compatriot Anastasija Sevastova.

Read Next: Iga Swiatek vs Jessica Pegula vs Coco Gauff: Battle for No 2 at Madrid Open

The post Iga Swiatek hits stunning Madrid Open milestone with Alex Eala revenge win appeared first on Tennis365.

Alexander Zverev has given a graphic insight into the process behind the drug testing procedures in tennis, as he suggested the entire process is ‘annoying’.

The tennis doping set-up, overseen by the International Tennis Integrity Agency, has hit the news in the last year after both world No 1 Jannik Sinner and five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek posted positive doping tests.

The manner of how those positive results were handled has been the subject of intense discussion, with Sinner currently serving a three-month suspension that will allow him to return to action for next month’s Rome Masters.

Now Zverev has opened up on his feelings around the doping control procedures in tennis, as he openly expressed his frustrations.

“I think it’s just a subject that we’ve been talking about more over the last year, or not year, half a year or so, because of, obviously, Jannik and Iga a little bit. But, in general, nothing really changes for us, nothing changed,” Zverev said ahead of his first match at the Madrid Open.

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“It is an annoying process, I have to be to be honest, because we have to be at a certain place every single day where we kind of give our details of where we’re going to be for like an hour a day. But at the same time if they show up not in the hour that we gave them, you still have to come back to the place.”

Zverev went on to outline his own experience, as he suggested the doping control officers affected him colllecting his three-year-old child.

“It was end of last year or so in December, where I was, I think I was picking up my daughter from the airport in Nice, and then doping control, they, my slot is like at 7:00 or 8:00 a.m., right, and they came at 9:00pm,” he reflected.

“They call me, like, You have to come back. I’m like, I can’t, I’m picking up a three-year-old child. They’re like, No, you have to come back, doesn’t matter what happens.

“So that is more annoying, because it’s kind of they’re taking the freedom of life away a little bit. Okay, if you want to come within the hour, that’s fine, because that’s the rule. But then after that, you have to give us the freedom of living.

“Just because you decided that you want to show up at a random time and not at the time slot that you are given doesn’t mean that I have to completely change my plans and leave everything and all of a sudden be available to you. That’s not right, in my opinion, right.

“Also, let’s say you’re out with your friends, right? I mean, we’re home, what? Five weeks a year maximum?

“On those five weeks, if we’re going out for one night, if you’re with your friends, if you want to spend some time away, if you even want to have a nice romantic dinner with your wife or girlfriend or whatever, they can destroy that within a second. That’s something that is just not right to me, because we don’t have time at home.

“So, if you want to come at the right time, that’s fine. But if you want to just completely mess with our lives, then that’s not fine, in my opinion.

“As I said, if I pick my daughter up from the airport, that is more important to me, right, and that’s, that should be a priority to me. That system and that anti-doping system cannot decide for you that you have to leave everything and all of a sudden come back straight away. I think that’s wrong. That system can be better, and that system can change a little bit.”

ITIA CEO Karen Moorhouse spoke to Tennis365 in an exclusive interview, as she insisted her organisation are keen to work with players to ensure they are not fearful of the doping control procedures in tennis.

“It’s all about getting the right balance. You don’t want them to be fearful, but you do want them to be mindful,” Moorhouse told Tennis365 in an exclusive interview.

“The anti-doping code places significant responsibilities on players. It requires you to take steps to make sure you don’t breach it.

“If one outcome of the cases we have seen this year is it has made players sit up, pause and reflect on the supplements they are taking, whether they need to take those supplements and if there are better supplements they could be taking to protect themselves, then that is a good outcome from those cases.

“We don’t want players to be fearful, but we want them to be mindful of their obligations under the rules and we also want them to know who we are if they have any questions.

“There are updates to the WADA prohibited list every year and they don’t tend to be fundamental changes. The list has been in place for some time now.

“We send out those changes in December and we make sure we make every effort to ensure the players are aware of that list.

“There is a strict liability principle that an athlete is responsible for what is in their body, so once you get a positive test, it’s up to the athlete to explain why.

“Our focus is to continue to push education to the players and the support personnel around the player so that they can mitigate the risk they could be exposed to.”

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The post Alexander Zverev finds an interesting word to describe tennis drug testers appeared first on Tennis365.

Carlos Alcaraz may well have known he would not be fit to play in the Madrid Open as early as Monday of this week, but he would have been under pressure to delay the announcement in what was a huge week in his year.

The release of Alcaraz’s much-hyped Netflix documentary was timed to coincide with an appearance at his home Masters 1000 tournament in Madrid, with the umpire’s chairs at the Magic Box venue in the Spanish capital covered in advertising to promote the documentary series that launched on Monday.

Alcaraz’s commercial team are positioning the 21-year-old to be the new face of the men’s game and that mission is already a success, as even though Jannik Sinner is world No 1, his 21-year-old Spanish rival is quite clearly the biggest star of the ATP Tour show.

After picking up the injury that ended his hopes of playing in Madrid during last Sunday’s Barcelona Open final against Holger Rune, Alcaraz is reported to have had a scan on the injury on Monday.

That would have confirmed the extent of the injury, but it would have made no sense for Alcaraz to pull out of the Madrid Open even if he had no chance to play at that point.

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By remaining in the draw until Thursday, the interest around whether he would play in front of his Spanish fans added to the hype around him and the Netflix series, as he attended the official launch of the series on Wednesday.

There were suggestions before the media event to promote the Netflix launch that Alcaraz was almost certain to miss the Madrid Open, but he may have been advised to allow the publicity around his docuseries to dominate the news before he changed the narrative with his injury news.

By the time he confirmed he was out of the tournament on Thursday morning in Spain, it came as no surprise.

“In the Barcelona final I felt something in the left hamstring, I didn’t think that it was that serious,” Alcaraz said. “I’m really disappointed that I’m not able to play here in Madrid. It is a place that I love playing in front of my people, in front of my family, my friends. They are not able to travel so much, so here is a special place for me.

“It was a really difficult situation, really difficult to decide, not [being] able to play. I think it is what it is. Tennis is really a demanding sport. Playing week after week, so many matches in a row and you have to heal your body sometimes and take difficult decisions. I will come back stronger. I will come back with a lot of power for the next tournaments. I’m really disappointed [to] not be playing here in Madrid.”

He went on to suggest that his long run to victory at the Monte Carlo Masters, followed by five more matches in Barcelona, has pushed his body to breaking point.

“It was the first year I went really far in Monte-Carlo but it was also the first year I lost in the first match in Miami, so I had time to prepare for the clay season, but it’s not easy,” added Alcaraz said.

“A different surface, coming from hard court to clay court and playing so many matches in a row and having no time to rest, is not easy. Tennis players have to take difficult decisions sometimes.”

“My plan is to go to Rome. My mindset is to do everything it takes to be 100 per cent for Rome. I will do some tests at the beginning of next week just to see how it’s improved and from that let’s see how it’s going to be in the next days,” Alcaraz said. “My hope is to play in Rome. If not, the next tournament is Roland Garros for me. So I will try to be on court as soon as possible.”

Alcaraz has made the only decision open to him given the injury news he received and the sensible decision may also be to pull out of the Rome Masters at the start of May, when the return of Sinner will be the dominant story.

The bigger priority here has to be Alcaraz’s defence of his Roland Garros title and with an injury of this nature taking around three weeks to heal, the world No 3 should focus all of his efforts on being ready for his first round macth at the French Open.

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The post Why Carlos Alcaraz may have delayed his decision to withdraw from Madrid Open appeared first on Tennis365.

Carlos Alcaraz is officially out of the Madrid Open.

The Spaniard confirmed on Thursday that he was withdrawing from the tournament due to both the abductor injury that hampered him in the Barcelona Open final, and a separate issue – also believed to be an abductor – in his left leg.

Alcaraz is a two-time Madrid Open champion and reached the quarter-final of the event back in 2024, ultimately losing to eventual champion Andrey Rublev in three sets.

His withdrawal is set to have a significant impact on the ATP Rankings, with both Alexander Zverev and the absent Jannik Sinner in line to benefit from the Spaniard’s withdrawal.

Alcaraz’s points

Having reached the last eight in 2024, Alcaraz had 200 ranking points to defend heading into 2025.

Now unable to defend those points, the 21-year-old will fall from 8,050 points to 7,850 points once the tournament is over.

Alcaraz is guaranteed to stay as the world No 3, with world No 4 Taylor Fritz only able to hit a maximum of 5,715 points with a hypothetical run to the title.

However, he will now be unable to close the gap to world No 1 Sinner – and could lose further ground in his battle with world No 2 Alexander Zverev.

Zverev’s advantage

Having briefly fallen to world No 3 post-Monte Carlo, Zverev returned to world No 2 this week following his triumph in Munich – with Alcaraz unable to lift the title in Barcelona.

Now, the 28-year-old has been handed the chance to build his cushion over Alcaraz with a strong run in Madrid.

Heading into the tournament, Alcaraz was only 35 points off Zverev’s haul of 8,085 ranking points.

However, the German already had a slight advantage heading into action inside the Caja Magica, with only 100 points to defend after a fourth-round exit in 2024.

Currently earning just 10 points, Zverev is projected to fall to 7,995 points in the ATP Live Rankings.

However, the German is yet to compete in Madrid and could be primed for a significant surge, potentially leading Alcaraz by over 1,000 points once the tournament is over.

Should top seed Zverev lift the title in Madrid, he would surge to 8,985 ranking points, a hypothetical lead of 1,135 points over the Spaniard.

Though the German would then have to defend 1,000 points as the reigning Italian Open champion, it would give him a significant cushion over Alcaraz in the race to be seeded second at Roland Garros.

Zverev was the Madrid Open champion in 2018 and 2021, meaning a deep run would not come as a surprise in the slightest.

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Sinner’s milestone

Sinner’s three-month suspension from the ATP Tour has largely been defined by both Alcaraz and Zverev failing to put pressure on his world No 1 ranking.

And, with Alcaraz out of Madrid, he has been handed another significant advantage.

A quarter-finalist in Madrid twelve months ago, Sinner will drop 200 points to 9,730 when the rankings update post-tournament.

However, with Alcaraz also dropping the same number of points, that means the current gap of 1,880 points between the two will remain.

That is of huge significance for Sinner, who has no points to defend at the Italian Open following his 2024 withdrawal and fewer points to defend at Roland Garros than reigning champion Alcaraz.

With the Spaniard also having no Italian Open points to defend, but a staggering 2,000 points at Roland Garros, he cannot overtake Sinner as the world No 1 this clay swing.

And, as Zverev has Rome champion and Roland Garros finalist points to defend, Sinner is mathematically guaranteed to still be world No 1 once the second Grand Slam of 2025 is complete in early June.

Having risen to the top of the ATP Rankings after the French Open in 2024, that ensures that the Italian will have reigned as world No 1 for a whole calendar year.

He will become just the fifth man in ATP Rankings history to reign for 52+ weeks in his first spell as No 1, and just the 10th to spend 52+ consecutive weeks overall.

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Emma Raducanu has revealed she has changed her mindset after a challenging start to 2025, with her broad smile on evidence once again after beating Suzan Lamens in her opening match at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid.

The 2021 US Open champion took a break from the WTA Tour following her run to the Miami Open quarter-finals last month and embarked a training block with her part-time coach Mark Petchey ahead of the clay-court swing.

That work appeared to reap reward as Raducanu beat Lamens 7-6(4) 6-4 in an impressive opening to her clay court season.

In what was her first WTA Tour win on clay since 2022, with her previous one coming at the French Open and she admitted she was pushed all the way by Lamens.

World No 73 Lamens again made a strong start to the second set and moved 2-0 up, but Raducanu responded to break twice and served out at the first time of asking and she won the key points when the pressure was applied.

“I know I had to play really well to win and although it wasn’t always my best, I got stuck in at the right moments,” said Raducanu in her on-court interview.

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“I’m proud of how I competed. It is a strength of mine when I can use it.

“It’s for sure different stepping into the competition, especially on clay. I haven’t played many matches on this surface, so it does feel a little foreign to me.”

Raducanu had been especially open in her comments prior to her opening match in Madrid, as she admitted she allowed the criticism and scrutiny she gets with each and every move to affect her mindset.

Speaking to Sky Sports Tennis, she expanded on that mindset shift and suggested she may have put too much pressure on herself to reach out for perfection.

“I think I have realised I don’t need to be switched on 200 per cent of the day, which is what I am usually like,” she stated.

“I don’t need to suffer or be so down, be so focused. I think I can enjoy myself and have fun.

“It’s nice to be relaxed and then when I go on the court, I feel I am switched on. There is a time and a place for everything.

“To have won my first match on outdoor clay in years means a lot.

“I am working my way into it, I don’t think I am the finished product by far, but I am very happy I gave myself another opportunity to play and bank even more experience.

“It was a big mental challenge. [Lamens] has had a lot of wins on clay, so I knew she was in form and I didn’t necessarily feel that way before the match.”

“I’m proud of how I competed. It is a strength of mine when I can use it.

“It’s for sure different stepping into the competition, especially on clay. I haven’t played many matches on this surface, so it does feel a little foreign to me.

“I’m happy with how I kind of worked my way into the match. I played an opponent in great form who has won a lot of matches on clay so I knew I had to play really well to win. I don’t think I played my best level, but I think I competed really well.”

The win against Lamens fired Raducanu up to No 47 in the live WTA Rankings and a win in her next match against Marta Kostyuk would fire her closer to the target of a place in the top 32 of the rankings and a seeding for the French Open.

She is also closing in on a prize money breakthrough at this week’s Miami Open, as Raducanu currently has career prize money of $4,905,443 and she will need a run to the quarter-final in Madrid to break through the €5million barrier.

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The post Emma Raducanu closing in on prize money breakthrough as she makes telling confession appeared first on Tennis365.

Emma Raducanu is safely through her opening-round match at the Madrid Open.

The Brit did not find things easy at times against Dutch star Suzan Lamens, though she was clinical enough to seal a confident 7-6(4), 6-4 victory over the world No 73.

Victory for Raducanu is a major boost for the Brit, not only winning her first match of the season on clay but also bettering a drab round-one exit from the tournament 12 months ago.

However, things will not get any easier next for the former US Open champion, with 24th seed Marta Kostyuk waiting in round two.

As a seeded player, Kostyuk received a bye into the second round and, while she has had a bumpy 2025 season to date, should not be underestimated.

Here is all you need to know about Raducanu’s Round 2 opponent in the Spanish capital.

Career highlights

The standout result of Kostyuk’s career to date came at the 2023 ATX Open, claiming what has so far proven to be the only WTA title of her career.

Kostyuk stunned fourth seed and home favourite Danielle Collins in the semi-final, before defeating Varvara Gracheva 6-3, 7-5 to lift the title.

A strong start to the 2024 season saw the Ukrainian reach two further finals – both at WTA 500 level.

The 22-year-old reached her second career final at the San Diego Open in March 2024, falling to Katie Boulter, before she was beaten by Elena Rybakina in the WTA Stuttgart Open final that April.

A junior Australian Open champion back in 2017, Kostyuk reached her first Grand Slam singles quarter-final in Melbourne in 2024.

Unseeded, Kostyuk beat the likes of 25th seed Elise Mertens on her way to the last eight, where she was beaten in three tight sets by Coco Gauff.

However, she would beat the American in Stuttgart later that year and also defeated Gauff at the 2025 Qatar Open, recording nine career top-10 wins to date.

She reached the quarter-final in Qatar this year, though the best WTA 1000 run of her career came at Indian Wells in 2024, reaching the semi-final.

Kostyuk reached her career-high of world No 16 in June 2024.

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2025 so far

2025 has been a challenging season for the 22-year-old so far, with the Ukrainian having fallen to world No 36 in the WTA Rankings.

Kostyuk dropped 11 spots in this week’s update after failing to defend her Stuttgart runner-up points from 2024, withdrawing from the event after representing Ukraine in the Billie Jean King Cup.

She was also dealt a blow by the cancellation of the San Diego Open, meaning she was unable to defend her finalist points there.

The Ukrainian was beaten in the third round of the Australian Open by Paula Badosa and the fourth round of Indian Wells by Zheng Qinwen, ultimately dropping points at both tournaments.

Overall, Kostyuk has produced a solid-yet-unspectacular 11-9 record for 2025 ahead of the Madrid Open.

The Madrid Open has historically not been her strongest event, with a 1-5 record to her name coming into the tournament this fortnight.

Head-to-head

Kostyuk and Raducanu have met twice before, though this will be their first meeting in three years.

The pair first met in Cluj-Napoca back in October 2021, in what was just Raducanu’s second tournament following her US Open triumph that September.

Ultimately, it proved to be rather a chastening experience for the Brit, with Kostyuk storming towards a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

However, the tables turned when they met for a second time just months later – at the Madrid Open.

On that occasion, it was Raducanu who cruised to victory, beating the Ukrainian 6-2, 6-1 – the same scoreline in which she had lost to Kostyuk in their first meeting.

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The post Who does Emma Raducanu face in Madrid Open Round 2? Former rival Marta Kostyuk appeared first on Tennis365.

Emma Raducanu kicked off her clay-court season in impressive fashion as she defeated Suzan Lamens in the opening round of the 2025 Madrid Open.

The 2021 US Open winner prevailed 7-6(4), 6-4 against her 25-year-old Dutch opponent in just under two hours.

Raducanu fought back from a break down in each set to survive a stern test from Lamens, who is ranked 73rd in the world.

It was Raducanu’s first match since her excellent run at the Miami Open ended with a quarter-final defeat to Jessica Pegula just under a month ago.

Prior to Madrid, Raducanu chose to delay the start of her clay campaign as she withdrew from Great Britain’s Billie Jean King Cup qualifying ties in the Netherlands and the WTA 250 tournament in Rouen.

The Brit’s victory against Lamens was her first win on an outdoor clay-court in almost three years, with her previous one coming at the 2022 French Open.

Raducanu has not played the French Open or Italian Open since 2022, with her only outdoor clay appearance in the previous two seasons coming at the 2024 Madrid Open — where she exited in the first round.

“I know I had to play really well to win and although it wasn’t always my best, I got stuck in at the right moments,” Raducanu said in a post-match interview.

“I’m proud of how I competed. It is a strength of mine when I can use it.”

With the 35 points earned from her opening round win at the WTA 1000 tournament, Raducanu has climbed two places from 49th to 47th in the Live WTA Rankings.

This boosts Raducanu’s points tally by 25 points up to 1,139 as she was defending 10 points from her first round loss in Madrid last year.

Emma Raducanu News

Emma Raducanu hits out at ‘judgement’ she faces and breaks her silence on next coaching appointment

Sabalenka’s quest, Swiatek & Gauff’s struggles, Raducanu’s rankings chance – Madrid Open predictions

The former world No 10 has a good opportunity to climb the rankings further in the coming weeks as she has no other points to defend during the clay season.

Encouraging serving stats

Raducanu’s serve caused her problems during her difficult early season run prior to Miami, but there were positives to take in this area from her Madrid opener.

The 22-year-old landed 61% of her first serves and hit four aces against Lamens.

While her 56% of first serve points won was on the low side, Raducanu won an excellent 66% of points behind her second delivery and hit only one double fault.

Who will Raducanu face next?

Raducanu will play 24th seed Marta Kostyuk in the second round in Madrid.

The Brit holds a 1-1 record against the 22-year-old Ukrainian, who she dismantled 6-2, 6-1 at the 2022 Madrid Open in the pair’s previous meeting.

READ NEXT: Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff, Pegula – which WTA stars are defending the most points at the Madrid Open?

The post Emma Raducanu ends three-year clay drought at Madrid Open as encouraging stats emerge appeared first on Tennis365.