Talking to Cincinnati tournament organizers, Emma Raducanu revealed how ATP world number 8 Andrej Rublev made her stop her practice session.
“One person that comes to mind [is Andrey Rublev]. Practicing next to Andrey Rublev and just seeing how hard he hits the ball. It was funny. I was watching him practice and I was stopping my practice to watch his practice. Then I tried to hit my forehand fast too. And it sort of helped. I was hitting it bigger but not Rublev big,” said Raducanu.
You can see Emma talking about the moment in the video below.
Raducanu would like to hit bigger
Given that Raducanu recently hired Tursunov, a strong-hitting former player, and was impressed by Rublev’s “big” forehand, the US Open champion is clearly appreciating the quality of hitting hard in tennis and being the dominant one on the court.
Talking about dominance, Emma Raducanu showed this ability in her last two matches in Cincinnati, against Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka. Raducanu won bagel sets against each one of them.
Getting back to the Tursunov-Raducanu partnership, Raducanu seems to like it.
“He’s a really relaxed guy and personality. I think that he is great to have around. When you are 5-All in the breaker, he’s still chill, probably making some really bad joke. He’s got a good sense of humor. He’s good to have around in the team. He’s teaching me how to be easier on myself, not trying to chase this perfection [e.g.] you can win and not be perfect,” Raducanu said of Tursunov, per James Gray.
Nevertheless, it remains to be seen if Raducanu will compete with the Russian coach by her side at the US Open.
Related: Russia backs up Tursunov in Raducanu deal: “He is ours, we do not leave him”