Emma Raducanu level is ‘there for sure’ ahead of clay season, says former pro

Former British No. 1 and Eurosport expert Laura Robson believes Emma Raducanu is in good form ahead of the clay court season.

Raducanu’s season so far has been largely unremarkable, with her making the second round of the Australian Open back in January before a decent run into the fourth round of Indian Wells, and most recently being knocked out of the Miami Open in the first round.

However, according to Robson, the 20-year-old just needs to find the right ‘balance’ for her body as she prepares to kickstart her clay season at the Stuttgart Open, having reached the quarter-finals there last year, from April 17.

‘’Emma's level is there for sure,” Robson told Eurosport.

“She hits the ball just as well as any of the top players on tour.

“But it's just finding the right balance on the training side of things, on the match court and tournament schedule side of things to make it work for the body because everyone is different, everyone requires different amount of matches as well.

“I think if she's just able to get another couple of consistent weeks under her belt, then the belief will come and you start to trust your body a bit more and you start to then not worry about some small injuries because it's just part of being a tennis player.

‘’I can't think of anyone on tour who ever feels 100% healthy all the time, so Emma's just seeming to find that balance at the moment.

“She's been on a practice court in the UK at Wimbledon and looks good, she looks really good.’’

While Raducanu tends to produce her best tennis on hard courts, Robson explained that the Brit is good enough to hit through the conditions.

‘’I actually think she's pretty good on clay anyway,” she continued.

“Last year she went into the season thinking ‘it's just going to be a bit of a learning experience for me’.

“You could tell that she was trying new things on the clay court, trying to add a little bit more spin to her forehand side.

‘’But she played well in Madrid, she won a couple of matches there, she had some good result and you feel like maybe that's the kind of court that's going to suit her game the most.

“Something that's a little bit faster and takes on the pace slightly more than the heavy conditions that you can get in Rome and in some of the lead up tournaments to Paris.

“I think with the way that she hits the ball, she can almost hit through the conditions if needed. It just has to keep going after her shots, which I know she's been working on at the moment.’’