Emma Raducanu has enjoyed arguably her best year on the tour in some time, both with regard to the form and fitness she has found.
The 2021 US Open champion, who was catapulted to fame following that magical run, has since had to battle through untold challenges that have seen her lambasted and questioned.
However, despite this overwhelming negativity and the unrelenting pressure of expectation, it seems that she has finally levelled out and found some stability at last.
There are numerous factors that have contributed to this, not least her improved physical condition. But Mark Petchey, her new coach, certainly deserves some praise for his contribution too.
Emma Raducanu praises new coach Mark Petchey for changing her serve
Speaking in her post-match interview, the 22-year-old touched on Petchey’s influence when detailing the area of her game that she has tweaked: the serve.
Emma Raducanu claimed: ‘I mean, I changed my action from, you know, a shorter action earlier on in the year. It’s a lot longer, and I think I’m still kind of finding out the rhythm and the timing of it, because it is longer, which means, you know, I don’t have as much time with the ball toss, so it’s balancing that. But I think the more I practice it and do it every day, I think the more I’m gonna click into it.
‘But I know this action has a higher potential and a higher ceiling than the other one, so I think I need to stick with it for a bit. And yeah, I’m happy to also get some good pay-offs from the work we’ve been doing on the grass courts, where courts are slightly faster and it takes us as well.
‘As I set into it, I think in bigger moments, it’s easier to kind of stay loose through it, whereas in the other one, if you’re a little bit tense, a little bit tight, it’s probably harder, because you’re kind of manually lifting your arm up rather than it kind of flowing with gravity.
‘So I think that’s one benefit, and I think the other is if I practice it more, I think I can probably get better trajectory and angles in the court. So yeah, I’m working on that, but, I mean, I still think there’s a long way to go on it.’
Emma Raducanu crushed Rebecca Sramkova at Queen’s
It was an emphatic performance from Raducanu on Thursday afternoon, as she booked her spot in the Queen’s quarter-finals with a thumping win over Sramkova.
And, at one point, it seemed destined to be a rout.
Especially when the Brit raced into a 5-0 lead inside 20 minutes, failing to serve out the set and eventually winning the first set 6-4.
She started the second set in a similar fashion, but recaptured that ruthless touch to close out the match, 6-4, 6-1.
Realistically, had Raducanu remained focused and kept her composure throughout, this very easily could have been a double bagel for the Brit in front of a home crowd.
However, regardless of those slight struggles, it remains a hugely impressive performance which even led Annabel Croft to claim that Raducanu has one shot that’s the best on the entire WTA tour.
Her volleying was remarkable, and her returns as blistering as ever. However, more importantly, her serve and forehand held up well, with the backhand slice causing havoc on the grass.
She is slowly figuring things out ahead of Wimbledon, and the signs look promising with the next Grand Slam starting later this month.
