Raducanu carefully plans her preparations for Sunday.
“After I saw it, the first reaction was ‘oh, it’s late,’” she said. “Then you deal with it, try to shift and adjust your day.”
Due to the delayed flight to Melbourne, Raducanu did not train on Friday and postponed her only practice session at the Australian Open to 9pm on Saturday to adapt to the late evening tennis conditions.
“When I played the US Open semi-final, I played a second evening match, but otherwise I didn’t play that late,” she said.
“So it’s a new experience, something I have to learn.
“Hopefully, if I play this game for a long time, I’ll probably end up in this situation again, so it’s a good learning step to try to adapt and deal with that day.”
Raducanu made encouraging progress in 2025, climbing back into the top 30 in the world and playing more matches than in any previous season of her career.
However, the technical work she wanted to do in the offseason with coach Francisco Roig – who helped Rafael Nadal win 16 of his 22 major titles – was hampered by a foot injury.
Raducanu’s lack of practice has been evident in the four matches she has played so far this year.
During a timid defeat in Hobart against 204th-ranked Taylah Preston, she often looked uncertain in her shots and played passively, which drew pressure from her opponent.
“I haven’t really taken the results of the last few weeks seriously,” Raducanu told BBC Sport.
“I know I’m working on it, and even this week I know I’m still on my way to where I want to be.
“I am very happy with the past few weeks. I have been able to be very down-to-earth about it, not too emotional.”
#Australian #Open #Emma #Raducanu #believes #Melbourne #schedule