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Agence France-Presse

Emma Raducanu believes she is moving in the right direction, but acknowledged it was hard to quickly get over two painful defeats to Jessica Pegula and Barbora Krejcikova last month.
Raducanu squandered three match points in a last-16 tie with former Wimbledon champion Krejcikova at the Korea Open on September 18 before, a fortnight later, history repeated itself with the British No 1 unable to close out victory against Pegula.
The 2021 US Open champion had a 5-2 advantage over world No 7 Pegula at the China Open before she let slip three match points to lose 3-6, 7-6, 6-0.
Ahead of her participation in the Wuhan Open, the 22-year-old was eager to draw on the positives.
“Yeah, I think it was hard for me. The last two matches that I lost, I had match points in both and it’s not something that’s really happened to me before, and then to happen twice in a week was pretty new to get my head around,” Raducanu told a press conference.

“The second match, I found it easier to get over than the first because I know I was playing some better tennis and just improving with my level.
“I feel like I didn’t take too long to kind of dwell on it and just got straight back to work.
“And I do feel like I’m improving and making progress.
“I still see the differences in where I want to go, but I know I’m doing good work day-to-day to try and get there.”
Raducanu, who is fluent in Mandarin and whose mother is Chinese, will make her Wuhan debut by taking on American Ann Li.
Meanwhile, world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka said she was “ready to go” at the Wuhan Open after taking time off following her US Open triumph, and as she entered the final stretch of the 2025 campaign.
The Belarusian will this week make her first appearance since lifting a fourth grand slam title in New York a month ago.
Sabalenka, 27, has a perfect 17-0 record in Wuhan and is bidding for a fourth consecutive title there.
She is also engaged in a battle with Iga Swiatek for the year-end top spot, and a successful title defence in Wuhan would help Sabalenka maintain her lead over her Polish rival, who will be making her tournament debut.
“I feel good,” said Sabalenka, who withdrew from the China Open in Beijing and took a full month off after her US Open exploits.
“I just didn’t want to rush my body into the tournament, so I think we made the right decision to take extra time for recovery and for the preparation, and now physically, I feel ready to go.”
Sabalenka suffered some brutal losses at the majors this year, falling to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final, to Coco Gauff in the Roland Garros final and to Amanda Anisimova in the Wimbledon semi-finals, before she turned things around at the US Open.
“I would rate my season as a pretty successful season,” she said. “The goal is to stay the same, to improve myself every day, to keep the position of world number one, to see how far I can get in this sport and how much I can win.”
Wuhan home favourite and last year’s finalist Zheng Qinwen has withdrawn from the tournament as she continues to recover from right elbow surgery.


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Wuhan Open: Emma Raducanu confident she is moving in right direction after painful defeats

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Sport

Tennis

Briton is eager to stay positive on her debut in tournament, while world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka is hoping to win for fourth straight time


Briton is eager to stay positive on her debut in tournament, while world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka is hoping to win for fourth straight time.


Wuhan Open: Emma Raducanu confident she is moving in right direction after painful defeats

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Briton is eager to stay positive on her debut in tournament, while world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka is hoping to win for fourth straight time

Briton is eager to stay positive on her debut in tournament, while world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka is hoping to win for fourth straight time