Emma Raducanu’s singles and doubles winning streak continued at the Washington DC Open as she notched up two wins in a day and she later admitted that there has been a shift in her mindset.
The 22-year-old produced a clinical display in the singles as she brushed aside former world No 1 Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-2 to reach the quarter-final of the WTA 500 tournament.
Raducanu celebrated with a two-finger salute and she later revealed to journalist Ben Rothenberg: “It’s just a bit of an inside joke with me and my friends from Wimbledon. Yeah, one of my friends are here, so we kind of continued that on.”
That was yet another sign of her more relaxed attitude on and off the court.
Not long after her win over Osaka, the 2021 US Open winner teamed up with fellow Grand Slam winner Elena Rybakina to claim their second win of the tournament.
And “er^2” – as they have dubbed themselves – also notched up an impressive win as they defeated Giuliana Olmos and Aldila Sutjiadi 7-6 (8-6), 6-4 to secure their spot in the semi-final.
Raducanu appeared pretty relaxed during both matches and it has been her strength in recent weeks as she admitted afterwards there has been a big shift as she stated: “I’m really pleased with how I’m tracking, how I’m building.
“My goal, it’s kind of gone away from result-orientated goals and just enjoying each day and trying to bank as many good ones as possible in a row and not let a bad day kind of creep in, or if a bad morning session, like trying to regain it straightaway.”
The world No 46 dealt well with the power of Osaka as she broke in game five of the first set against Osaka and then raced into a 4-1 lead in the second set before wrapping it up in one hour and 21 minutes.
“I’m really pleased with that match,” she said during her post-match press conference. “I thought that it was pretty mature, and I was holding onto my own service games really well.
“I knew going into the match that Naomi has been playing good, loves the hard court. So I was going to have to play well and manage my own service games, because she’s very dangerous, hits a big ball, and serves extremely well. Very pleased with how I managed all the situations there.
“…Naomi is pure speed, which is very difficult to deal with, especially on these courts, where it’s very lively. It was extremely important to start the point well on my serve.”
Emma Raducanu News
But she once again gave insight into how she has moved away from that intense on-court persona.
“I think when I watch myself now, I really like how I look on the court,” she said. “Not in like a narcissistic way! I mean in terms of energy, and I think I feel quite upbeat. The pink outfit is pretty cute as well.
“I think it’s more I look composed on the court. I feel composed. I think that’s a product of just the amount of work I’m doing behind the scenes that maybe people don’t see. I love that, I love banking it in, doing everything in the shadows.
“I feel pretty calm, because I know regardless of the result I’m doing the right things, and I’m banking so many good days in a row and trying to keep a streak going. It’s working really well. It takes a bit of pressure off the immediate result in the matches.”
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