Britain’s Emma Raducanu says she has to be “aggressive” if she wants to compete with the world’s best players after losing to Amanda Anisimova in just 52 minutes in Indian Wells.
Sixth-seeded American Anisimova, a finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, cruised to a 6-1, 6-1 victory to reach the fourth round in California.
Advertisement
Raducanu lost her serve in the opening match, won just 11 points in the first set and trailed 3-0 in the second before managing to hold serve.
“When I play against someone who is at the top like that, I think he has 10 miles per hour more than me on serve,” Raducanu said.
“If I don’t feel it, that gap seems more obvious in terms of the weight of the shot, in terms of the power.
“You just feel a little behind and your shots don’t hit as much as theirs.
“Obviously I have to be aggressive when playing against these players, but I think there’s still a long way to go to get there and I have to use my strengths and probably mix it up a bit more.”
Advertisement
Having hired Mark Petchey as temporary coach after parting ways with Francisco Roig in January, Raducanu said last week she hoped rediscover your “natural way of playing” in an attempt to build towards the form that won him the 2021 US Open.
Raducanu, who beat Anastasia Zakharova 6-1 6-3 in the second round, said: “It’s difficult to read much into the match, apart from the starting point, because there were no rallies.
“But I have to look at what I have achieved in the last nine days of training since I arrived here, and the first match was good for me.
“Today I could let it get me down if I wanted to, but overall I think these days were better than not.”
Advertisement
Anisimova will face 19-year-old Canadian Victoria Mboko, 10th seed, in the round of 16.
“Another sobering outing” – analysis
It was another sobering outing for Raducanu against one of the best in the world.
Anismiova was exceptional from the first ball and systematically took control of the point from the first serve or return.
There was very little resistance from Raducanu, who never came out of the blocks and did not serve well.
She made it clear that she wanted to take the ball and try to be aggressive against the best players in the world.
But as she later admitted, she is still far from performing well enough to compete at the highest level.
Advertisement
Raducanu is inspired by the work of Simona Halep and Jessica Pegula.
Both are the same size and, as she later said, they “find a way to really dig in.”
“A firework was going off inside my arm”
World number four Coco Gauff has withdrawn from her third round match against Alexandra Eala due to a “scary” arm injury that “felt like it was on fire”.
This is only the second time in her career that Gauff, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, has retired during a match.
The American said she “would rather finish the match and lose 6-0”, but she gave up when trailing 6-2 2-0.
Advertisement
“It felt like fireworks were going off inside my arm, and then my whole arm felt like it was on fire,” Gauff said.
“As the match went on, it got progressively worse, even on shots where I didn’t even use my left arm.”
Gauff took a medical timeout to get treatment at 5-2 and the trainer returned at the end of the set to wrap his forearm.
The 21-year-old decided “it was best to stop” after 54 minutes on the pitch.
She will have an MRI but hopes to play at the Miami Open – the second half of the “Sunshine Double” which follows Indian Wells this month.
Coco Gauff is ranked fourth in the world (Getty Images)
Belarusian world number one Aryna Sabalenka scored 23 winners as she beat Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian to set up a fourth-round meeting with Japan’s Naomi Osaka, who beat Colombia’s Camila Osorio 6-1 3-6 6-1.
Advertisement
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, is playing her first tournament since withdrawing from the Australian Open in January due to an abdominal injury.
Italian world number two Jannik Sinner beat Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3 6-2 to reach the men’s fourth round.
Sinner will face rising Brazilian star Joao Fonseca, who advanced to the fourth round of a Masters 1000 for the first time with a 6-2 6-3 victory over American Tommy Paul.
Fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev held off American Brandon Nakashima 7-6 (7-2) 5-7 6-4.
