Former British player Barry Cowan has identified what makes grass and hard courts Emma Raducanu’s best surfaces as he looked ahead to the US Open.
Raducanu continued her positive 2025 campaign with an impressive run to the semi-finals of the Citi DC Open in Washington this week.
The 22-year-old saw off Marta Kostyuk, Naomi Osaka and Maria Sakkari without losing a set before falling 4-6, 3-6 to Anna Kalinskaya in the last four.
The Brit holds a 21-15 record this season and she has climbed 13 places from 46th to 33rd in the Live WTA Rankings with the 195 points she has gained for her run at the WTA 500 event.
Raducanu lost six of her first nine matches of 2025 before kickstarting her year with a run to the quarter-finals of the Miami Open in March after linking up with coach Mark Petchey.
In an interview with Tennishead, Cowan addressed Raducanu’s chances at the 2025 US Open, which will begin on August 24.
“Yeah, I think grass and fast hard courts are her best surfaces,” said the former world No 162.
Emma Raducanu News
Who is Emma Raducanu’s first Canadian Open opponent? Elena-Gabriela Ruse is friends with the Brit
Emma Raducanu explains two-finger salute as she reveals key change to mentality
“I think the reason for that is that she is a great timer of a tennis ball. And when she won the US Open, she predominantly played her tennis on the baseline and used her great timing to hit the ball early and rush her opponents.
“Obviously, on the slower hard courts, on the clay courts, it’s a totally different type of style that is required, but yeah, I mean, she can do well at the US Open, but I think that the women’s tour is something where I do feel, you know, I look back to Washington last year as a good example. I thought she’d played a great in Washington.
“She played two really good matches, she won, she built momentum, she lost narrowly to [Paula] Badosa in the quarter-finals, and then she didn’t play after that until the US Open.
“Well, you can’t expect to play, you know, one great week and then not play for three or four weeks and then pick it up. At 30 years of age or 35 years of age, if you’re a [Novak] Djokovic, or further back, Serena Williams — that’s okay.
“But for Raducanu, she needs matches.”
Raducanu will face world No 56 Elena Gabriela Ruse in her opening match at the WTA 1000 event in Montreal next week.
The post Emma Raducanu dealt honest verdict on her US Open chances after Citi DC Open run appeared first on Tennis365.
Leave a Reply