As Emma Raducanu prepares to return to competition in Indian Wells, a month after she won the US Open, she is already looking past her victory in New York and her early success has only reinforced her determination to achieve even more.
“It’s great to reflect and have that so gradually it sort of sinks in,” she said. “I am just super proud of the achievement. I am now looking forward. I am not going to cling on to that. I am still hungry for more, really.”
After receiving a first round bye as the tournament’s 17th seed, Raducanu faces Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, who is ranked 100th, in the second round. Sasnovich, who defeated María Camila Osorio Serrano 6-0, 6-4 in the first round, is a 27-year-old veteran who has been ranked as high as 30th. In the third round the winner could face Simona Halep, whom Raducanu describes as one of her idols.
While Raducanu has said her aim for the final tournaments of the year is to stay in the moment, she could also potentially qualify for the WTA Finals. She is 15th in the WTA Race rankings, with the top eight players qualifying for the event, which has temporarily been relocated from Shenzhen, China to Guadalajara, Mexico because of Covid. Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka are both doubtful participants among those at present in the qualifying positions.
Raducanu’s packed schedule over the next month offers her the best chance of qualifying as she has also entered tournaments in Moscow, Cluj-Napoca and Linz. However, she stressed she is taking things slowly. “I just want to focus on the tournament that I’m playing in the moment,” she said. “I entered all the tournaments but that’s just to give myself the option really, I’m not 100% sure what I’m going to do right now. I’m not really thinking too much about the finals at all.”
