“A lot of positives to take from this one”: Former British player backs Emma Raducanu to have good clay season despite early exit from Madrid Open

Former British player Colin Fleming believes that Emma Raducanu can still have a good season on clay despite having a disappointing outing at the Madrid Open. The 22-year-old, who was once regarded as the one for the future after winning the US Open at the age of just 18 back in 2021, is going through a rough patch in recent times.

Raducanu recently featured in the Madrid Open, where her journey ended in the second round as she lost to Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk with a score of 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 on Friday. It was the sixth time this season that the former world number 10 faltered before the quarterfinals stage.

The result is a setback for the one-time Grand Slam winner who came into the competition hoping to build on her performances at the Miami Open, where her journey ended after losing in the quarterfinal to America’s Jessica Pegula with a score of 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. However, former British player Fleming, who is now working as a pundit for Sky Sports, recently spoke about Raducanu’s performances and stated that, in his opinion, Raducanu can still have a good season on clay despite crashing out of the Madrid Open at an early stage. The 40-year-old was of the opinion that the Toronto-born star has ‘a lot of positives to take’ from her performances in the Spanish capital.

“Emma Raducanu is a competitor,” he said while speaking to Sky Sports. “She’ll be disappointed at this stage but I think when the dust settles there’s a lot to take from this match. This was a good level at times on a surface where she hasn’t played a lot of tennis recently. If she can keep working, keep finding her feet in the clay, her movement, her balance and just comfort on this surface. I think she can still have some great results in this clay-court season and I think it will serve her well for beyond that into the grass and the hard. A lot of positives to take from this one.”