Emma Raducanu was humbled in her second round match against Iga Swiatek, winning just three games, with a cold moment at the net spotted by former player Annabel Croft
Emma Raducanu shared a “cold handshake” with Iga Swiatek before being dumped out of the French Open with Annabel Croft claiming they was no warmth between the two players before the match in Paris.
The 22-year-old Brit was looking to down her Polish opponent for the first time, but could only managed three games in a short-lived encounter. The defending champion raced to a 6-1, 6-2 win in the second round on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
Raducanu’s record against the game’s elite players makes for grim reading and the gulf in quality was on show at Roland Garros. It is another disappointing end to a Grand Slam for the former US Open champion, who has failed to even make a quarter-final since her success in New York.
Swiatek meanwhile is eyeing a fourth successive triumph at the French Open and has forged a reputation as one of the best clay court players on the tour – she needed little time to show that quality and blow Raducanu away.
But an observant Croft told the BBC: “That was quite a cold handshake. There was no warmth there between the two players. It was quite dismissive, almost just a handshake and then a walk off. Once Iga Swiatek got a breakthrough in this match, she just stamped her authority on it.”
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Swiatek will now face Romanian Jaqueline Cristian in the third round whilst Raducanu is left to lick her wounds with Wimbledon just over a month away. The Brit will be desperate to make a good impression in front of her home crowd, where she first made her name.
The Toronto-born star attempted to take the positives from her loss and wanted to try and benefit from the experience of playing on the French Open’s main court. She said after the loss that you feel like there “isn’t must space”.
Raducanu said: “It was a really difficult match. Iga played really well. It was tough. I think in the beginning of the match it was pretty tight. As it went on I think she grew in confidence. I just felt a bit exposed. It was the first time playing a match on that court. It’s different and it’s new for me.
“It’s a surrounding that she’s obviously very comfortable with and she’s played in it a lot of times. I did emphasise beforehand, me feeling a bit uncomfortable. But it’s a good experience if I ever play on that court again.
“You just don’t really feel like there is that much space on the court and in certain moments, you overhit, you just feel constant pressure. I definitely think I can improve certain areas of my game to maybe make me feel like I have less holes. I’m just going to try my best to work on that. It just shows, I guess, the distance that I have to improve.”
