Emma Raducanu will no doubt have been left red-faced after her French Open second round opponent Aliaksandra Sasnovich described her victory over the US Open champion as ‘easy’. Raducanu was competing in the French Slam event for the first time, and headed into the tournament on the back of an injury.
Emma Raducanu will no doubt have been left red-faced after her French Open second round opponent Aliaksandra Sasnovich described her victory over the US Open champion as ‘easy’. Raducanu was competing in the French Slam event for the first time, and headed into the tournament on the back of an injury.
Post-match she said per Sportskeeda: “Honestly, I had Covid a few months ago. So I didn’t prepare well for the crazy season, I didn’t expect things to go easy, but yeah, I’m happy.” Raducanu meanwhile finds herself a world away from her Grand Slam heroics in New York just eight months ago.
Since the turn of the year, the teenager has failed to win more than two matches at an event, reaching just one quarter-final in 2022. This difficult run has mostly been down to ongoing fitness issues, which forced her out of her last event prior to Roland Garros at the Italian Open.
Despite the early exit in Paris, Raducanu said that leaving the tournament unschated is the ‘biggest win’. “Other than general fatigue I don’t have any problems or pains,” she said post-match. “Physically I’m alright, other than the general fatigue that you get in a match.
“The work I’ve been doing is to help my muscles fire up and I think the biggest positive of this week is I have come out completely injury free. For me that’s the biggest win.” The Brit will now turn her attention away from clay, to concentrate on the upcoming grass season this summer.
