By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Monday May 23, 2022
19-year-old Emma Raducanu is making her fourth Grand Slam appearance – and first at Roland-Garros – this week in Paris.
But on Monday she found herself in the role of the more experienced player as she faced 17-year-old Czech qualifier Linda Noskova (last year's Girls Singles champ in Paris), the youngest player in the women’s singles draw.
It was a perfect chance for Raducanu to try out some of the invaluable experience she has earned over the last year.
She talked to reporters after her maiden Roland-Garros victory, a gritty 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-1 triumph that sets up a second-round clash with Aliaksandra Sasnovich, telling them that she was happy to draw on experience to get the win.
“it definitely is different,” she said. “You know, on the match court, I was just thinking, you know, of whatever experience I have kind of gained on the tour, and I know she's new to the tour, but in a way, that sort of helps if when you are brand new you're just swinging, you're free, and I think she definitely was doing that,” she said.
Raducanu said it enabled her to eventually take over the two hour and 37-minute contest in the third set.
“Yeah, I knew that if I, you know, got through some really tough moments in the second set, it might get to her,” she said. “And I think in the third set I definitely was able to kind of keep pushing, keep pushing. Eventually just I was dominating more and more. “I was pretty pleased. Physically, you know, I think I was really good out there. I lasted the whole three sets. I was really good. I was also thinking I'm going to outcompete her.”