2026-03-09 11:28:22
Emma Raducanu feels that she needs more power to compete with the world’s top tennis players.
The British number one suffered a comprehensive defeat to two-time major finalist Amanda Anisimova at Indian Wells on Sunday (08.03.26) and felt that she was unable to match her opponent’s aggressive hitting.
Raducanu said: “When I’m playing someone who’s at the top like that, I think they have an extra 10 miles an hour on their serve than me.
“If I’m not feeling it, that gap feels more evident in terms of weight of shot, in terms of power.
“You just feel a little bit behind and your punches aren’t landing as much as theirs are.
“I need to obviously be aggressive when playing those players, but I think there’s still a long way to go to be doing that and I need to use my strengths and probably mix it up a bit more.”
Raducanu admits that it was hard to take positives from the defeat to Anisimova but is happy with what she achieved at the tournament working with temporary coach Mark Petchey.
The former US Open champion said: “It’s difficult to read much into the game, other than the starting the point really, as there were no rallies.
“But I have to look at what I achieved in the last nine days of practice since I arrived here, and the first match was a good one for me.
“Today I could let it get me down if I wanted to, but overall I think the days have been better than not.”
Raducanu recently explained that she was trying to rediscover her natural style of play following her recent split from coach Francisco Roig.
She told BBC Sport: “Right now, it’s more about bringing my instincts back out, getting back in touch with myself.
“I have had a lot of people telling me what to do, how to play, and it hasn’t necessarily fit.
“So I want to come back to my natural way of playing. That takes time to relearn because that’s something that has been coached out of me a little bit.”
Visit Bang Premier (main website)
