'Everything starts now' - Alex Corretja, Kim Clijsters back 'talented' Emma Raducanu to respond after US Open exit
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Updated 31/08/2022 at 15:38 GMT
Emma Raducanu saw her US Open title defence ended at the first hurdle as she was beaten in straight sets by Alize Cornet. Raducanu said afterwards she is looking forward to a "clean slate" after the tournament and Eurosport experts Alex Corretja and Kim Clijsters have both given their backing to the 19-year-old. Former world No. 1 Clijsters says Raducanu is a "very talented" player.
Highlights: Nadal roars through, Raducanu and Osaka both crash out
Alex Corretja believes "everything starts now" for Emma Raducanu after her US Open exit while Kim Clijsters says she has "all the ingredients" to succeed again.
Raducanu saw her US Open title defence ended in the first round as she was beaten in straight sets by Alize Cornet.
The 19-year-old has had a difficult 12 months since winning in New York and says she is now looking forward to a “clean slate”.
She is set to drop from world No. 11 to around 80 in the rankings after the tournament.
"Everything’s going to start now," former world No. 2 Corretja said on Eurosport.
"She’s already a Grand Slam champion so now her career can start as it should be - more slowly. What happened last year is not normal. But I would take it - I would have wished to have won a Slam and struggled the year after, so I think it’s okay what has happened to her through the whole year.
"She needs to understand where she is and where her game needs to go and if she drops in the rankings it doesn’t really matter. Maybe it’s what she needs - to know how to play tennis and to develop her game. I have to say that she’s a brilliant girl. She plays super good tennis, she’s going to be okay. No one needs to worry. But it’s good to go step by step.
"At the end of the day sometimes you jump so high, you don’t really know how you did it. While if you go day by day and step by step and play in quarters and semi-finals then you win a tournament, then you know the way. For her everything came all of a sudden.
"I think we need to know how important it is to deal with emotions. We practice so hard in our lives - back hands, forehands, but we forget sometimes about emotions. For her everything been so different in the last year,
Since winning 10 matches in a row to come through qualifying and secure a stunning victory at the US Open last year, Raducanu has not won three matches at the same tournament.
She has not been helped by several injury issues which appear to have prevented her from building momentum.
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Emma Raducanu was beaten by Alize Cornet
Image credit: Getty Images
But former world No. 1 Clijsters has backed Raducanu to rise up the rankings again.
"She’s young, she’s a very smart girl, she’s a very talented player, works hard, has an open mindset to learn and to improve so she has all the ingredients to become a good player, it’s just taken her a little time to adjust; to be in the role of being a potential Grand Slam champion again and the pressure that comes with that.
"There’s a certain type of pressure that you put on yourself. The pressure that comes with being a defending champion. But we were in England a few weeks ago and the questions you hear from the English media - when I have to do interviews there it’s all about ‘How come she hasn’t been able to produce another big win or big upset’.
"It’s not that easy and it's impossible for her to filter all that out. You can try to ignore it as much as you want but for Emma it’s all about being in the moment and taking it one step at a time and doing her best. That’s what she is doing and that’s all she can do."
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