In almost all other tennis careers, players tend to have the benefit of making their first mistakes in relative silence. The first steps on a new surface usually take place in the anonymity of the ITF circuit or in the back courts of a lower level tour event – they learn, they grow, and then eventually they thrive on their terms.
It is fair to say that such avenues are no longer open to Emma Raducanu. On Friday she was charged with finding her feet on clay as the No 1 player for her country against the dominant nation in the sport. Moments earlier, her teammate, Harriet Dart, had managed to win just one game in the opening rubber. The pressure was undeniable.
Yet she rose to the moment admirably, recovering from doubtful deficits in both sets through the strength of her grit and perseverance, eventually overcoming No 50 Tereza Martincova 7-5, 7-5 to win on her Billie Jean King Cup debut and keep Great Britain in contention. Earlier in the day, Marketa Vondrousova opened the tie by eviscerating Dart 6-1, 6-0, meaning the BJK Cup Qualifier with the Czech Republic is finely poised at 1-1 ahead of the final day.
“This one means so much to me because it is my first match in the Billie Jean King Cup,” said Raducanu afterwards. “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.”
As the attritional exchanges took hold in frequent gusts of wind, Martincova continually picked apart the Raducanu forehand, challenging her to dictate off her weaker wing while grinding her down. It slowly worked as Martincova broke serve at 4-4 and generated a set point as she attempted to serve out the set.
But as the match wore on, Raducanu searched for solutions and she found them. She began to implement more topspin into her strokes, throwing up loopy balls to arrest the momentum of rallies or dragging Martincova off the court with additional width. Raducanu saved the set point at 5-4 and reeled off three tough games to take the set.
In the second set, however, her level dropped as she fell down 1-4 with two breaks. But this time Raducanu pulled her game together by continuing to disrupt Martincova by varying the trajectory of her shots. In the numerous exhausting games that followed, including a manic game at 4-4 on Raducanu’s serve that included nine deuces and four break points, she slowly pulled back to win.
“I’ve [been] playing really good tennis for a set, maybe a set and a half, then my energy dips,” she said. “And then I find myself in an absolute battle and it lets me down. But today I feel like it’s another step in the right direction because I’ve managed to overcome that. So that does give me a lot of confidence.”
Raducanu arrived in Prague with a 2-5 record in 2022 and this is the highest ranked opponent she has even taken a set off since the US Open semi-final. A personal step forward for her, it also puts her team in an interesting position as she returns on Saturday morning to face Vondrousova as the clear underdog.
In the opening rubber, Vondrousova responded to losing her opening service game by reeling off 12 games in a row to dismantle Dart in 55 minutes. For Dart, the challenge would have been extremely difficult on any surface, but on clay against the 2019 French Open finalist, who is an artist with the drop shot, it was simply overwhelming. The one-sided result leaves captain Anne Keothavong with a decision to make about whether to play Dart again, Katie Swan or particularly the promising but completely inexperienced 20-year-old Sonay Kartal.
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“I believe we’ve got a good chance,” said Keothavong. “We came here as underdogs. The Czechs still are the heavy favourites but we will review how both matches went todayand put all the game plans in place. It requires the players to be able to execute under pressure, but they will be as well prepared as possible.”
As Keothavong finished, Raducanu leaned forward with a mischievous smile on her face to address no one in particular: “The Brits love being underdogs, by the way,” she said.