Good afternoon and welcome to coverage of Emma Raducanu’s opening round match at the Abu Dhabi Open.
The British star returns to action after her second round exit at the Australian Open last month. Illness hit Raducanu at an inopportune moment in Melbourne after fighting back to level her match against Wang Yafan. In the final set, Raducanu was unable to maintain her level and her Chinese opponent held on to book a place in the third round.
Nevertheless, Raducanu was satisfied with her performances, which came after eight months on the sidelines, and believes patience is required to regain her form.
“I’m still finding my feet on the match court, I’m not fully there but that will come with time,” said Raducanu. “I’m very patient and very grateful to enjoy what I’m doing.
“I’m just trying to improve my game because I’m not the finished product, far from it. I feel like now is the time to start because I’ve had some illness and injuries over the couple of years since [winning the US Open], so I’m looking forward to working on my game, improving my level and the results will take care of themselves.”
Raducanu’s opponent today is Czech world No 36 Marie Bouzkova, who crashed out in the first round of the Australian Open.
It will be a stiff test of Raducanu’s form after a long layoff but she is aware of needing to bring the level she’s showing on the practice court to the match court.
“For me, success would be seeing my level improving in practice first and then in matches,” Raducanu said. “I know that when my level will be there, putting it into a match will take some time to apply. But I know that seeing the level increase, that results will follow.
“Also, I would love to win a title of any grade.”