LONDON
\nUS Open champion Emma Raducanu has little experience on clay at the elite level but the 19-year-old says she is heading in the right direction on the surface ahead of the French Open starting later this month.
\nRaducanu has had mixed results following her maiden Grand Slam title at last year\u2019s US Open but has had an encouraging run in the claycourt season where she reached the Stuttgart quarter-finals and Madrid last-16.
\nShe has been figuring out how to adapt to the surface without the help of a full-time coach after splitting with Torben Beltz last month, and the Briton has taken a liking to the independence of coaching herself.
\n\u201cI\u2019d describe myself as a loner,\u201d Raducanu, who faces Bianca Andreescu in the Italian Open first round this week, told reporters.
\n\u201cFor the past year … I\u2019ve had a lot of people around me a lot and very often. To be on my own is interesting because I\u2019m kind of finding out a lot about myself, understanding what I need and what I don\u2019t need.\u201d
\nRaducanu played her first professional match on clay in the Billie Jean King Cup qualifiers last month and said she has been learning about the surface as she plays.
\n\u201cClay is very new to me,\u201d she added. \u201cI definitely feel like I have been progressing with each week, improving, getting a better understanding of how to play points, when to stay in the point or when to stay aggressive.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m like the finished product at all. But, yeah, I\u2019m heading in a good direction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON US Open champion Emma Raducanu has little experience on clay at the elite level but the 19-year-old says she is heading in the right direction on the surface ahead of the French Open starting later this month. Raducanu has had mixed results following her maiden Grand Slam title at last year\u2019s US Open but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-259643","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n