Emma Raducanu booked her place in the Australian Open second round despite difficulties with her serve.
The Brit saw off No.26 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, winning 7-6 7-6, but it was far from plain sailing for Raducanu who debuted a new service action.
AFPRaducanu edged past Alexandrova in her Australian Open first round match[/caption]
The 22-year-old hit a tournament-high 15 double faults, while having her serve broken six times and winning just one of her first 15 points on second serve.
The match saw both Raducanu and Alexandrova trade a combined 12 breaks of serve.
Asked about her difficulties on serve, the British No.2 said: “I’m not sure what I changed in my serve today. I think it had a mind of its own.”
The 2021 US Open winner has been working closely with coach Nick Cavaday to fine tune her service game.
Ahead of the match Raducanu revealed she was struggling with a back spasm that caused her to skip her usual warm-up routine.
But she overcome her difficulties – and her serve – to seal her place in the second round against America’s Amanda Anisimova.
Raducanu, who hit a late double fault when leading 6-0 in the second set tiebreak, was quick to poke fun at herself as she made light of her errors.
“One more was the cherry on the top,” she joked. “It is uncomfortable for sure. The key to dealing with it mentally I think was accepting the situation. I think in the first set I was hitting a lot of good first serves.
“I hit a few aces. At the same time I was hitting a double-fault. I was, like, quite accepting that, OK, I’m at least going for it. I’m just very proud that I didn’t let it affect me too much and let the match run away from me.
“I am going to get into practice tomorrow to see where I can improve and hopefully get under 15 double faults in the next round!”
GettyShe is looking to go beyond the fourth round at a Grand Slam since winning the US Open[/caption]
Raducanu has now been victorious in eight consecutive tiebreaks, something she credits as one of her best attributes.
“I think that is a part of my game that is one of my strengths,” Raducanu said.
“When it gets to those clutch moments, I mean I relish playing in that. There’s obviously a lot of nerves. If you channel it and use it as excitement and buzz.
“I played two great tiebreaks in the first round of Wimbledon this year. Last year I played a very good tiebreak.
“It’s good to have that confidence in big moments. At the same time, tiebreaks can go either way. It’s never a good thing to just rely on your tiebreak.
“You would ideally close it out. But when it comes to it, it doesn’t always go your way. It’s good to just have that confidence.
GettyRaducanu has endured plenty of injury setbacks during her career so far[/caption]
“There is also the adrenaline in those moments. I love adrenaline in all aspects of my life. And when that moment comes around, I feel regret if you are passive or take things off the shots.
“Then afterwards, if you lose the set, you are probably kicking yourself and thinking: Why didn’t I go for it. Maybe part of it is that.”
Meanwhile, former British men’s No.1 Tim Henman took the positives from Raducanu’s error-laden victory.
Henman told Eurosport: “If you can serve 15 double faults and still end up winning it means the other areas of your game are working pretty well.”
Legendary Swedish player Mats Wilander went one better, claiming Raducanu can be one of the best players in the world.
“I’m very impressed with Emma Raducanu,” he said. “Every time I see her, there’s no question in my mind she can become one of the best players in the world if she stays healthy long enough.”