Emma Raducanu needs to take advantage of the big transformation of 2021 to rebuild self-confidence

Emma Raducanu needs to take advantage of the big transformation of 2021 to rebuild self-confidence

This was a match without a ball boy, line judge and spectators. There wasn’t even a chair referee, so Raducanu and Burns had to call their line and flip a small flip card hanging from the netcode to maintain their score.

Raducanu, wearing a white shirt and black leggings, started the game with three double faults in the first game. Meanwhile, loud growls and obscenity emerged from the men on the court next door. They would have been stunned by the idea of ​​playing with the tennis royal family.

In a comment left on the YouTube page, “This is extraordinary. To be a national open champion in the next 112 days, you have to be 1,000,000 to 1.” The criteria are certainly exceptional. If this match happened at a tennis club at the end of your road on Saturday afternoon, you wouldn’t have stopped watching it.

Burns took the first set 6-1 against Raducanu and was so rusty that he spent most of his time collecting the ball from the bottom of the net. To get a sense of the level involved, this is Katie Burns, who lost to 12-year-old Hannah Krugman at the UK Tour event in Walking last week and wants unranked futures to be a year older than their opponents. Is the same as.

The second set saw a resurrection from Raducanu. Looking back at the video now, you can see her picking up the racket in a note-perfect preparatory pose as soon as the ball crosses the net. Butterflies were starting to emerge from the pupae.

However, after that, the match ended 6-1, 1-6, and Burns left the court for a 6-minute bathroom break. Under the supervision of tournament referee Ed Bradford, a 10-point super tiebreaker followed. With a chaotic melange of double faults, shanks and at least one dangerous line call, Burns won with 10 to 8 points, the smallest possible margin.

Raducanu hasn’t been gloomy for a long time. As stated in Mike Dickson’s book “Emma Raducanu: When Tennis Comes Back,” she collected £ 75 prize checks and Felixstowe for her upcoming UK Tour event. I proceeded to. setting.