Raducanu said she did not expect to win against Kalinina in Madrid

Raducanu said she did not expect to win against Kalinina in Madrid.

Due to back pain, ninth seed Emma Raducanu admitted she did not expect to win against Anhelina Kalinina at the Madrid Open round of 16 after losing 6-2 2-6 6-4 to the Ukrainian on Tuesday.

The defending US Open champion requested a medical timeout in the opening set because she was gripping her back between points. find out more

“I would have given myself a 5% chance of winning that match,” Raducanu told reporters. “For it to almost happen, I think that was wonderful.”

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“To be honest, I was having a little trouble with my back.” All of the matches at this level are taking their toll on me, and I’ve been dragging some niggles throughout the week.

“I did come into the game with that, and I was having trouble moving out wide.”

Raducanu expressed confidence in her ability to return to form in time for the Rome Open next week.

“I’m hoping there’ll be enough time because it’d be a pity to miss it,” she remarked.

“With me, a lot of the time, it’s simply overload, and then three days, two days, three days of pure recuperation, and I’m OK to go back to training.”