Laura Robson believes Emma Raducanu is set for a brilliant hardcourt season overseas after a strong start at the Citi Open last week.
Radacanu reached the quarterfinals in Washington in her first hardcourt Open of the year but missed out on the semi-final, losing to Ludmilla Samsonova in two sets.
The 19-year-old has been the star subject of British tennis since claiming the US Open Women’s title last year and Robson has faith that this is only her beginning.
She said: “I think her season’s been really good to be honest. I watched her matches in Washington and she played really well, especially in her second round.
“I think she’s getting better and better as the season goes on and you can tell that she’s put a lot of work in physically over the last few weeks having had that break after Wimbledon to get in more training.
“I think she’s hopefully going to have a great US hard-court season, starting well with a quarter-final in Washington.”
Raducanu was given a tough opening round at the Canadian Open last week, losing to 2021 title holder Camila Giorgo.
But the teenager has also begun to implement women’s doubles into her schedule in a move that Robson believes will serve as an advantage to her singles play.
Robson said: “I thought it was so funny that it was her first ever WTA doubles match and with another teenager as well. Clara is someone that she’s known for a long time so you can tell that they got on.
“Both were taking it seriously but definitely seeing it as a way to focus on things they’re working on in the singles as well.
“I’d love to see her play more doubles, it’s the fun part of tennis and sometimes the pressure of playing singles week after week can wear you down slightly.”
Robson spoke at the ‘Play Your Way to Wimbledon’ finals last week where she was joined by over 100 junior tennis players who had won the chance to play at the iconic venue.
Robson and Raducanu are both former competitors at the event and prime examples of how inspiration is the key to building the next generation of British tennis.
Robson said: “It’s the perfect example really. I remember Emma when she was 13 or 14 and she was already an incredible ball striker.
“It just shows that it’s not actually that far to go from juniors to seniors and she’s just done incredibly well, incredibly quickly.
“Emma is such a fantastic example for everyone that’s playing here this week because they’ve seen her over the last two years and they’ll get to now follow her career.”
Play Your Way to Wimbledon, powered by Vodafone, is a junior tournament that gives players an opportunity to follow in their heroes’ footsteps and compete on the grass courts at Wimbledon. The All England Club and LTA are proud to partner with Vodafone to relaunch and expand the largest individual mass participation tennis competition in the UK – for more information visit wimbledon.com
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