Emma Raducanu may have lost the first round at Indian Wells but the Brit believes the defeat will help in the long run.
Raducanu, who became the first qualifier to win a major when she captured the US Open title, returned to the tour at Indian Wells. But the 18-year-old went down 2-6, 4-6 to World No.100 Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the opening round.
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“I’m kind of glad that what happened today happened so I can learn and take it as a lesson so going forward I’ll just have more experience banked,” she said after the match.
Second Top 50 win of the season 🌟
Aliaksandra Sasnovich takes out Raducanu in straight-sets!#BNPPO21 pic.twitter.com/3aK1csyN2r
— wta (@WTA) October 9, 2021
Though Raducanu claimed the US Open last month, she’s still new to the tour. She made her WTA tour debut at the Nottingham Open this summer and played her first Grand Slam at Wimbledon as a wildcard.
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“I’m still very, very new to the tour,” Raducanu said.
“I think that experience just comes from playing week in, week out and experiencing all these different things….For the bigger picture, I’ll be thanking this moment.
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“I didn’t go in there putting any pressure on myself because in my mind I’m so inexperienced, I’m just taking it all in.
“You’re going to have highs and you’re always going to have some lows where you’re disappointed with how you performed.
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“That’s the lesson I think, that you can easily get sucked into being so focused on the result and getting disappointed. I mean, I’m 18 years old. I need to cut myself some slack.”
