Emma Raducanu didn't get to return to the court a day after impressively ousting No. 8 seed Yuan Yue as the Briton's Seoul quarterfinal match against top-seeded Daria Kasatkina was pushed back for Saturday due to rain and that may be a bit concerning news because the 2021 US Open champion could potentially have to play two matches in one day.
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After beating the Chinese tennis player 6-4 6-3 to reach her fifth WTA quarterfinal of the year, the former world No. 10 was certainly hoping to continue with her fine form and momentum on Friday. But due to an unfortunate circumstance, she will have to wait for an additional day before challenging the top-seeded Russian.
When it comes to the remaining three quarterfinals, no one played a point on Friday because rain halted play for the entire day. So on Saturday, the schedule will also feature No. 3 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia taking on Polina Kudermetova, fourth-seeded Diana Shnaider and No. 5 seed Marta Kostyuk squaring off, and Veronika Kudermetove meeting Viktoriya Tomova.
The first on the Centre Court will be Haddad Maia and Polina, whileKudermetova and Tomovaare slated to meet on Grandstand.Raducanu and Kasatkina's match will take place on the Centre Court whileShnaider and Kostyuk will go to Grandstand after Kudermetova and Tomova finish their clash.
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After quarterfinal action is finished, the semifinalists will return to the court the same day because Sunday is a day for the final. Considering the Briton's injury history and how careful she has been since returning from three surgeries, that could be concerning because she could potentially spend hours on the court tomorrow if she makes it past her last-eight match.
Raducanu threw the pressure Kasatkina's way
Although the 2021 US Open champion kicked off her Seoul campaign with back-to-back straight-set wins, she didn't want to name herself the favorite against the Russian although some bookmakers even have the 21-year-old as the favorite. Instead, the Briton said the conditions at the Korea Open would probably favor more the world No. 13 and also claimed that she had nothing to lose because she was the underdog.
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"I think these courts suit her because they bounce quite a bit. But for me, every time I get exposure to that top level of opponent, it's invaluable. It allows me to build confidence. It's a match where I don't really have anything to lose," Raducanu insisted.
The last time the two met, it didn't go well at all for the 21-year-old. After sealing her first-ever top-10 win over Jessica Pegula, the former world No. 10 set up an Eastbourne quarterfinal date with Kasatkina. But what was expected to be another great for the home favorite turned into a disaster after the 27-year-old Russian crushed her 6-2 6-2.
Later, Raducanu slammed the tricky conditions in Eastbourne as "one of the worst" and added that it didn't allow her to play her usual game. However, she also admitted that she was "stubborn" out there because she she should have earlier in the match made some mid-match adjustments.
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My plan was to play my identity of tennis, which is aggressive, which is taking the ball early. Yesterday [against Pegula] it was a much better level of tennis because conditions suited it better. It was just more clean ball-striking. Today it was the complete opposite. It was more about the scrappy little shots that are dying. The slower you actually hit the ball today, the more difficult it was to deal with, because it would just hold in the air and move and cut with all the spin," the Briton said after the Eastbourne loss.
If [only] I had the confidence to just, like, chip some back, scrape some back, throw some up high, be a little bit more patient in the rallies, not try and hit the ball very close to the line, because the wind would take it out. I thought I was very stubborn in the wrong way out there. Stubborn is one of my character traits. Sometimes it works for me, but sometimes it works against me. So I think thats just part of me maturing as a tennis player too.
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Raducanu enters this Kasatkina match with something new
Against Yuan, the 2021 US Open champion had one of her best serving performances of the year after hitting 11 aces and winning 72 percent of her first-serve points. Later, the Briton confirmed that she has tried several different service motions and techniques over the last couple of months because she is trying to find the perfect one.
"Me and my coach decided we were going to take a risk and we were going to tweak things. We know it might not pay off short-term. But one thing I do back myself on is I pick things up pretty quickly. In the first match it didn't transfer yet, but today it definitely did. I just have to think bigger-picture. My goals are finishing this season strong but inevitably to set myself up in the best way possible for next year, because next year I really want to hit the ground running," she said.
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If Raducanu's serve works well against Kasatkina, that will significantly improve her chances of upsetting the top seed.
