No toenails? No problem. Emma Raducanu made light of her latest physical ailment to make a winning start to her clay court professional career, beating Tereza Martincova in straight sets to help Great Britain draw level in their Billie Jean King Cup tie against the Czech Republic.
With compatriot Harriett Dart losing 6-1, 6-0 to 2019 Roland Garros finalist Marketa Vondrousova earlier in the day, Raducanu was under pressure, not least because of the revelation that ill-fitting shoes had caused her toenails to drop off in the build-up to this tournament.
But the 19 year-old responded in the manner of a Grand Slam winner, and seemed genuinely elated to have delivered for her country – perhaps unsurprisingly, given her difficult run of form since her fairytale of New York last September.
“This one means so much to me because it is my first match in the Billie Jean King Cup,” Raducanu said. “To represent my team and come out here for my first professional match on a clay court is really amazing. We are still in this battle. It’s all to play for tomorrow.”
There had been fears ahead of the match that Raducanu would not shine on a surface that seems ill-suited to her talents. But although she was far from perfect – particularly in her movement early on – she showed her tennis intellect in breaking down world No 50 Martincova, the highest-ranked player she has beaten since her victory at Flushing Meadows. She broke the Czech’s serve seven times despite losing her three opening service games in the second set.
Where Dart had looked awkward, Raducanu – having spent time with highly rated Italian coach Riccardo Piatti to gain a crash course on clay – looked relatively comfortable. Piatti previously worked with Maria Sharapova in the latter stages of her career, a player whose adaptability was one of her greatest strengths, and Raducanu’s readiness to use her athleticism to slide around court suggested that influence may have rubbed off.
‘I went a bit flat at the start of the second set’
“It definitely took some adjusting,” Raducanu said. “The conditions were very windy and a lot of bad bounces. To adjust and adapt in the situation was very challenging. I am very proud of how I dug in.
“At the beginning of the second set I went a bit flat. Everyone in the team had told me my intensity had dropped. It’s tough when you’re in the match and you feel like it is slipping away from you and you try to regain that. I am very happy I managed to come through in the end.”
At the start of the second set, it looked as if Martincova – who was also a Billie Jean Cup debutant, albeit aged 27 – would physically grind down Raducanu as she went 3-0 up, with the Briton visibly rattled. However, she used her breaks well, and may even have been cheered by the court DJ playing Sweet Caroline, the song that was played after her US Open win.
She battled back into the second set with a good variation of shots and showed the composure that launched her meteoric rise over the past year, even at one point asking the umpires to hush the partisan local crowd, some of whom were beating drums when she was serving.
Utilising her backhand down the line well, she was able to close the match out with the minimum of fuss and now faces the tougher challenge of Vondrousova in Saturday’s rubber.