Emma Raducanu says she is “not too worried” about the upcoming tournaments because her long-term development as a player is her priority this year.
Raducanu will face Rebeka Masarova at Indian Wells on Thursday, where she recorded her best result of last season by reaching the fourth round. If he lost, he would lose 110 of his 191 ranking points and thus fall outside the world’s top 330.
However, in an interview with the BBC, Raducanu said that results are not his priority this season. “I want to work on becoming a better tennis player,” he said. “I guess I’m not too worried about this year’s tournaments.
“A lot of people out there might say I need games, but I think I want to work on my game and my development. Taking the time to do that is essential and not just following the crowd, playing too many games or going down. [to Challenger level] to do this. “I want to work to improve my skills.”
Masarova should theoretically be a manageable opponent. The 96th-ranked player has won just one regular-round match this season to Raducanu’s three, but beat British No. 4 Heather Watson in an Indian Wells qualifying match on Sunday.
Raducanu, who has spent the better part of three weeks in the UK, has been trying to get used to Indian Wells for a few days now, so he should avoid some of the problems he had in Doha after arriving late at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex. He found himself under criticism for his schedule during the Middle East tournaments, but hit back on Wednesday and insisted he did not expect to make any changes to his preparations for the event.
“It’s not like that at all,” he said in Indian Wells. “I think I’m educated [with] I played tennis for three hours, was in the gym for an hour and a half, and rested for two hours in the evening. But I don’t know, you have to tell me what I should do in my free time from 8pm to 10pm.
“It’s basically like training in Dubai and then having a nice dinner with a lot of people,” he added. “The only difference is that my dinners are public.”
After losing 6-0, 7-6 to Anhelina Kalinina in the first round of the event, Raducanu said: “I think I need to train a little more outside because it’s so different here and also the light, the conditions, the shadows are so different. Towards the end it’s really hard to see the ball.” “I realized it was difficult.”
But as he enters his third month of recovery from hand and ankle surgery last year, Raducanu’s training program has so far relied solely on the indoor courts at the National Tennis Center in south-west London.
“It’s just a little journey for me, I would say, after being out for eight months you don’t really know what to expect,” he told the BBC on Tuesday. “I felt like I was a little tired because I’ve been so active since December, so it was nice to get back, freshen up and practice American swing, which I’m a big fan of.”
Raducanu said he could attend Great Britain’s upcoming Billie Jean King Cup qualifying match in France on the weekend of April 12-13.
“I don’t know if I’ll get the call,” he said, referring to the decision BJK Cup captain Anne Keothavong will have to make. “But if he asks me to do this, I think it would make sense because we are ahead of Stuttgart on indoor clay.”
Roddick: ‘Raducanu did not play enough games’
The Porsche Open in Stuttgart, also played indoors on clay, starts immediately after the tie in France and is one of Raducanu’s planned stops. Porsche is among its eight premier sponsors.
Meanwhile, former world No.1 Andy Roddick questioned Raducanu’s timing.
“He has to work to get back,” Roddick said on his new podcast, Served. “He hasn’t played enough games. He needs matches everywhere; I don’t care if he’s in the parking lot for a dollar.
“In practice you cannot create these pressure situations. This range seems strange to me: only 1000s and slams are played on the turn. If I were his coach I would say: ‘Indian Wells, we’ll see how things go, but if not then we’ll get three Challengers. [second-tier events] Instead of playing in Miami
Roddick jokingly added that he would probably be fired for making this suggestion.
Raducanu suggested that at least two changes helped him feel more comfortable: renewing his team for 2024 and having his parents, mother Renee and father Ian, join him on the road.
“I’ve surrounded myself with some good people. I basically had a completely new team: new manager [Thomas Houchin]new coach [Nick Cavaday] and new fitness [team]said.
“Gym-wise, I went back to LTA and it was great. They helped me a lot during this rehab period and I think having good people around is the most important thing.
“I think it’s good for them [her parents] to enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice. My parents both worked 9-5 jobs, but it looked more like a 9-9 job. My mother sometimes worked late, so I think it was nice for both of them to be able to enjoy some of the success that came from their investments and work. “I’m delighted to be able to help deliver this.”