(Reuters) – Former U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu is relishing a clash free of external pressure when she faces world number two Iga Swiatek on Saturday, after the Briton progressed to the third round of the Australian Open for the first time.
Raducanu battled back after going behind early in both sets and took a medical timeout before closing out a 6-3 7-5 win over American Amanda Anisimova on Thursday to set up the meeting with the five-times Grand Slam winner.
Swiatek “is a top player, she’s been really consistent over the last quite a few years”, Raducanu said. “So it’s going to be a match for me where I feel like I don’t really have much expectation externally.
“I think you always have the pressure that you put on yourself to perform to your best ability, which is not really going to change, but that’s every match.
“I’m looking forward to going out there and testing my game against the best, because ultimately, you play tennis, and you live for these matches. It’s going to be a great buzz of adrenaline.”
The 22-year-old had never progressed beyond the second round at Melbourne Park and was slow out of the blocks against Anisimova, losing three of the opening four games before blitzing her way through the remainder of the set to win 6-3.
Raducanu made a similarly sluggish start to the second set and had courtside treatment on what appeared to be a left hip issue, returning to fight back and claim the match in straight sets.
After successive wins, the injury-plagued Englishwoman, who struggled with back issues in the build-up to the tournament, stressed she would taking a relaxed approach to preparations for her meeting with Swiatek.
“I think I’ll probably just take it easy tomorrow,” she said. “I’ll probably have a light hit. Nothing crazy.
“I’ve played a lot of tennis today and two days ago, so I don’t think I need to overdo it on the practice court. Just to keep the body ticking over a little bit and just recover really.”
(Reporting by Michael Church; Editing by William Mallard)
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