- Raducanu anticipates challenge, excited for clay play against France
- Boulter and Raducanu lead Britain against formidable French team
- Lack of clay experience presents challenge for British players
Emma Raducanu reports that she is excited about the challenge of adjusting her game to perform well on clay as she and Katie Boulter lead Great Britain against France in a difficult Billie Jean King Cup qualifying match.
“I am taking pleasure in the challenge,” Raducanu stated. “Moreover, I believe it’s fantastic that we are in this position against the French, who are so dominant.” Furthermore, with clay as the surface, I believe we are the underdogs. “However, we have an abundance of games planned and are prepared to compete this weekend.”
Boulter and Raducanu were named as the singles representatives of Great Britain in Thursday’s draw against a formidable French squad captained by the experienced world No. 23 Caroline Garcia and the 21-year-old Diane Parry. They will compete in Le Portel, a small port community located 30 minutes from Calais along the coast, on indoor clay.
Both Raducanu and Boulter face the greatest challenge in their lack of experience with clay. Boulter has ascended to a career-high position of world No. 27 with the finest year of her career. However, at the age of 28, she has only competed in five clay tournaments. Her lack of experience is characterised by her physical ailments, she explains.
“I have nothing against clay,” Boulter stated with a grin. “However, the timing has not been ideal in the past; I sustained back injuries and foot injuries during the clay court season; the timing simply hasn’t quite worked in the past.” In light of this, I have endeavoured to maintain a high degree of simplicity and minimise surface changes to mitigate the potential for injury, an area that has previously posed a challenge for me. To refute that, I have made every effort to abstain from it. Yet again, I have been enjoying every moment of participating for the past week.”
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Two years ago, Raducanu was in a comparable circumstance. Notwithstanding having won a grand slam championship, her debut in the Billie Jean King Cup against the Czech Republic was her initial senior match on clay, regardless of level. Last year, wrist and foot surgeries prevented Raducanu from gaining additional experience on the surface. Raducanu stated, “I believe it will be a surface that actually suits me in the future; I mean, I may be a little bit off from that at the moment, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless.”
Following a successful week at Indian Wells the previous month, Raducanu was compelled to withdraw due to a lower back injury at the Miami Open. The 21-year-old reports that she has had “two good weeks” on the clay since her speedy return to training.
Hopefully, the contest will also be the first of a lengthy stretch of matches played on clay for both Boulter and Raducanu, as the Olympics will be held at Roland Garros at the end of July, following Wimbledon. Boulter’s breakthrough year, which commenced at the start of the Olympic classification period, has already solidified her spot in the Paris squad: “Being a part of and participating in the Olympics has been a childhood ambition of mine. Thus, that is without a doubt a priority for me. “If at all possible, I will participate in the game,” she declared.
However, Raducanu will likely be limited to the two quota spots that are allocated to Olympic gold medalists and former grand slam champions ranked within the top 400. Competition for quota spaces may be intense, as Caroline Wozniacki, Naomi Osaka, and Bianca Andreescu are also presently ranked outside the top 100 and are striving to qualify based on their merits.
