EMMA RADUCANU took a shot at Australian Open schedulers on Saturday, saying that playing late at night “doesn’t make much sense”.
The British No 1 will play Mananchaya Sawangkaew of Thailand in the night session on Margaret Court Arena on Sunday, but only after the completion of a men’s match, played over the best of five sets.
“I think it’s very difficult to be scheduling women’s matches after a potential five-set match,” Raducanu said. “To me, it doesn’t really make as much sense.
“The initial reaction is probably, like, oh, it’s a late one. Then you deal with it, and you try and shift your day and adjust.
“I think I have been in that situation only once before, maybe, when I played the semis of the US Open. I played second night match, but other than that, I haven’t played that late.
“So for me, it’s a new experience, something that I need to learn to do. Hopefully if I’m playing this game for a long time, I’ll probably be in this situation again, so it’s a good learning step to try and adjust and deal with that day, as well.”
ROGER THAT
Federer, 44, beats Grand Slam finalist, 27, as fans say ‘ATP is beyond cooked’
THREE AND EASY
Tennis’ elite reveal why Alcaraz and Sinner are BETTER than the old ‘Big 3’
Raducanu only arrived in Melbourne on Friday, having played a warm-up event in Hobart, losing in the quarter-finals.
And having begun her pre-season late due to a foot injury, the former US Open champion said she was playing down expectations.
“I feel like I need to not put too much pressure on myself and expect to be playing amazing tennis because I’m in week four of practice, it’s not much at all,” she said.
“So I just want to keep putting in the right steps that I know are going to take me to where I want to go in the future.
“Whether that comes this week, whether it comes tomorrow, whether it comes in a couple weeks, I know it will inevitably.”
To that end, Raducanu said she is taking care of her mental health off the court, with the help of Bikram yoga and reading Andre Agassi’s autobiography, Open.
“I’m doing hot yoga,” she said. “That’s been my little getaway escape, my 60 or 90 minutes to myself where I just zone out.
“I kind of started it more just like to loosen up. I love the heat. And it was so cold in London. It was like a bit of a little escape. And then I just loved how I felt afterwards. And I think mentally for me, it’s a great tool.”
And Raducanu said she had not been able to put down Agassi’s book.
“I’ve been recommended it a lot,” she said. “I really enjoy the way that it’s been written so colloquially. It’s a really fast paced kind of book. I’m enjoying that one and almost finished.
“It’s really interesting, his story, as well, learning about his childhood and how he got into it, and his parents and the whole journey.
“I think there’s so many lessons (to take), like when you’re feeling a particular way, it’s not just you.
“Even the greatest players of all time, have felt a similar way, and it’s how they deal with it.
“Sometimes you might have thoughts of lacking a bit of motivation and you feel guilty about it and you’re like, maybe I’m the only one, but you see, everyone else also has the same problems. Just no one speaks about it.”
Read the full article here
