"I take my hat off, she couldn't even shake hands!" - Mats Wilander on Emma Raducanu's battling Australian Open display
Mats Wilander recently lauded the resilience that Emma Raducanu showed in her second-round defeat to Danka Kovinic at the 2022 Australian Open. Kovinic, the World No. 98, prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 against the reigning US Open champion after a two-hour-38-minute battle.
Raducanu was hampered by a blister on her right hand, and for large periods of the match she resorted to slicing her forehand in order to avoid the pain.
The 19-year-old started well and took a 3-0 lead, before Kovinic won six of the next seven games to clinch the opening set. Raducanu then earned a crucial break in the second set to go 5-4 up, and staved off two break points before serving out to level the match.
Kovinic saved four break points in her first two service games of the deciding set, before breaking the Brit to go up 3-1. After being broken straight back, the 27-year-old broke again to go 4-2 ahead, and eventually sealed the win with two service holds.
Speaking in the Eurosport Cube later in the day, Wilander praised the character that Raducanu showcased. The Swede also pointed out that Raducanu couldn't shake her opponent's hand at the end of the match, and that her shouldn't be viewed as a disappointment.
"Emma Raducanu - unbelievable fight," Wilander said. "She had a huge blister on her right hand and at some points couldn't really hit a forehand at all."
"It's not a disappointment to me," he added. "It needs to not be for Emma Raducanu or the British media, and for her sponsors. This was a great effort against a really good player in Kovinic. I take my hat off. She couldn't even shake hands!"
"She won the Grand Slam, now we start being a professional tennis player" - Mats Wilander on Emma Raducanu
Mats Wilander further expressed the opinion that Emma Raducanu's campaign at the 2022 Australian Open was a positive experience after her Grand Slam success in 2021. In the opening round of the tournament on Tuesday, the World No. 18 downed 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens.
"In Wimbledon she reached the fourth round, at the US Open she won, and in the Australian Open she won a great first round against a former Grand Slam champion in Sloane Stephens," Wilander said. "Then, she played a fantastic match tonight. She is on her way."
"She won the Grand Slam - that's over," he added. "Now we start being a professional tennis player. That is where she is at."
Raducanu on her part revealed in the post-match presser that her team was opposed to her playing the match given her blister issue, but that she still went ahead.
Raducanu had to resort to a slice FH due a deep blister on her hand. “There were some people in my team that maybe didn't want me to play but I wanted to go out there & fight through it, see how far I could get. I discovered tools about myself & my game that I didn't know I had.”
Danka Kovinic will now take on 14th seed Simona Halep in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday.
Also check out: Complete Australian Open 2022 results