Emma Raducanu shared her pride after clinching a crucial point for the Great Britain Billie Jean King Cup team with a 7-5 7-5 win over Tereza Martincova in what was her first-ever clay match.
Raducanu has shared the meaning of her first win for the British BJK Cup squad after keeping her team alive in the qualifier tie against the Czech Republic. The 19-year-old defeated world No 50 Martincova in a two-hour and four-minute battle after coming from a double-break down in the second set to get her country to 1-1 following Harriet Dart's loss to Marketa Vondrousova in the first rubber.
She said:
"Oh my God, this one means so much to me because it’s my first match at Billie Jean King Cup and to represent my team and come out here on a clay court which is my first professional match on clay it’s really amazing and we’re still in this battle and it’s all to play for tomorrow."
She crediter her teammates as well saying:
"Yeah definitely the team had my back 100% as we had Harriet’s back this morning and it’s amazing to be in a team competition when everything is so individual in this sport so I’m really cherishing the memories that I’m making this week."
Asked about playing on clay Raducanu pointed out her last match which came in 2018 at the French Open:
"I mean 2018 French Open was four years ago, I can’t believe it’s been that long. But definitely took some adjusting to it even now in the conditions, it was very windy and a lot of bad bounces so to adjust and adapt to the situation was definitely very challenging and I’m just very proud of how I dug in."