Emma Raducanu gave herself a pat on the back for having the right attitude in terms of “dealing with the adversity” during her first-round win at the Nottingham Open as she felt she was “playing two v one on court”.
More than 700 days after her last appearance on grass, Raducanu made a blistering start to her 2024 campaign on the surface as she defeated Ena Shibahara 6-1, 6-4 in just over one hour.
After breaking three times in the opening set, Raducanu raced into a 5-1 lead in the second before the world No 274 broke twice but the British star eventually broke again to claim the match.
It was an eventful affair as Hawk-Eye is not in use at the WTA 250 event and Raducanu was far from impressed with chair umpire Ana Carvalho.
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The Brazilian official overturned a couple of calls in Shibahara’s favour and at one point Raducanu argued with the chair umpire as she was also unhappy with Shibahara who “reacted like it was out”.
“I mean, I feel like I was playing two v one on court, it was insane,” the 2021 US Open champion explained. “I would have used probably at least four challenges!
“I think a lot of the time they go both ways, today I felt they were all against me but it just makes me feel better than I managed to beat her and the umpire as well.
“It is difficult when there is no challenge but it is something everyone has to deal with.
“You can be fortunate in some ways, maybe it was just trying to make the match more competitive, it was 6-1 and 5-1 and all of a sudden first point serving at 5-3 it’s a really bad line call.
“It’s something I had to deal with and overcome. I am very pleased with the attitude I came out with from the get-go and also having to deal with the adversity.”
Despite the poor calls against her, Raducanu does feel having linesmen “adds to the drama”, but admits it is frustrating when you are on the receiving end.
“I feel this year Hawk-Eye has been a little bit off – I don’t know why,” she continued. “I think there is a beauty in having all the linesmen and it does add to the drama for the spectators. For us it can be the most frustrating thing ever.”
Up next is Daria Snigur after the world No 127 upset fellow Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.
Raducanu jumped 16 places to No 193 in the WTA Rankings with her first-round win and a second-round victory could result in another 10-place boost.