‘She's looking for an identity’ - Mats Wilander questions Emma Raducanu’s style of play following Korpatsch win
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Updated 16/01/2023 at 12:34 GMT
Emma Raducanu beat Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 6-2 in the first round of the Australian Open and Eurosport tennis expert Mats Wilander has questioned the Brit’s style of play. “Is she a Novak Djokovic, am I playing more defence or offence, am I completely like Simona Halep? She's looking for an identity,” he told the Cube following Raducanu’s opening victory on Monday.
Robson on Raducanu at Aus Open - 'Physically, she looks a lot stronger'
Eurosport tennis expert Mats Wilander has questioned Emma Raducanu’s style of play after she eased into the second round of the Australian Open on Monday.
The 20-year-old dismantled Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 6-2 in her first round match, and Wilander says Raducanu is “looking for an identity”.
"She played really well,” he told Eurosport's Australian Open coverage. “I don't think Emma Raducanu needs to play a lot of matches because she knows how to win on the big stage. She's responding to the pressure nicely. She's a great player, she seems like a great human being.
“For me though, she hasn't quite found what she's doing out there. Is she a Novak Djokovic, am I playing more defence or offence, am I completely like Simona Halep? She's looking for an identity, which is what you have to find and it looks like she's searching, and that's a good sign."
Raducanu started her Australian Open campaign brightly with a demanding win over Korpatsch at the 1573 arena.
Doubts were cast over her fitness as she came into the tournament having only just recovered from an ankle injury picked up at the ASB Classic in New Zealand.
But the 2021 US Open champion showed little sign of injury as she swept Korpatsch aside, and Laura Robson thinks she is enjoying her tennis because she’s taken the pressure off.
"For me physically she looks a lot stronger physically than what she has done, probably since the US Open to be honest,” Robson said. “In the pre-season she's done a huge amount of work in the gym, so I think she's just really relaxed coming into this one.
“She's taken all the pressure off herself given the injury coming in she didn't know how she was going to play so I think she just enjoyed herself."
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Highlights: Raducanu beats Korpatsch to set up Gauff meeting in second round
The win sets up a mouth-watering second round clash with French Open finalist Coco Gauff, who beat Katerina Siniakova in straight sets on Rod Laver Arena.
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