Emma Raducanu admitted that she needs to improve every aspect of her game, after extending her dismal series of results with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat at the hands of unheralded Japanese player Moyuka Uchijima.
In all her interviews this week, Raducanu has insisted that her late call to fly out to Indian Wells had helped to put the recent stalking incident in Dubai behind her. But while this felt like the right decision on a personal level, it didn’t lend itself to great tennis.
Coming in undercooked, Raducanu arrived on court with strapping underneath her left knee, suggesting that there might be some physical issues to deal with as well as the understandable rustiness.
And once the umpire had called “play”, she failed to establish any rhythm or confidence in front of her new coach Vlado Platenik, who himself had only arrived in time to fit in one practice session on the eve of the match.
In terms of both scoreline and ball-striking quality, this was Raducanu’s weakest performance since she left Melbourne in mid-January. It extended a wretched sequence of six defeats in seven matches, starting with a 6-1, 6-0 humbling at the hands of Iga Swiatek in the third round of the Australian Open.
We should note, however, that there were extenuating circumstances. Unsurprisingly, Raducanu had felt the need for a week’s complete break from tennis after what happened in Dubai. She only arrived in California last Thursday evening, and has been playing catch-up ever since.
It’s also worth mentioning the gusty, powerful wind. It sent tumbleweed rolling along the boulevards of nearby Palm Spring, and made it extremely difficult for Raducanu to locate the centre of her strings. If Uchijima dealt with the conditions better, that owes something to the heavy topspin she applies with her forehand, making the ball cut through the breeze.
“I didn’t have what happened in Dubai in my head at all today,” said Raducanu. “If anything, [I had] a bit of a lack of preparation on the tennis court, playing someone who played pretty good in these conditions, I mean, [it was] extremely awkward in the wind here. Today was just a bit of a curveball.”
