Emma Raducanu made an emotional remark about her injury recovery after winning the Billie Jean King Cup qualifier tie for Britain. The 21-year-old survived a late scare to defeat Diane Parry 4-6 6-1 7-6(1), delivering the final blow to France as team GB booked their spot in the BJK Cup Finals.
Raducanu won both of her singles rubbers for Britain over the two-day qualifier tie, earning herself the status as the team’s MVP this weekend. The former world No. 10 survived a late wobble against Parry on Saturday after blowing two match points when she served for it at 5-2 in the second set.
But she came out clutch in the tiebreak, dropping just one point as she secured Britain a spot in the BJK Cup Finals. After celebrating with the rest of the squad, Raducanu grew emotional when she was asked what it meant to win two high-level matches after spending most of last year on the sidelines.
“Yeah it does, it does [feel good],” the world No. 302 said. “I think I need to shout out Ian at home who has been working with me every single day in the last recovery since surgery.”
Raducanu had surgeries on both of her wrists and one ankle last May. And the 21-year-old was visibly touched to get the opportunity to prove herself after putting the work in. She continued: “I think to be able to put two matches like that back-to-back, three sets and on clay against really top opponents.
“It’s just a testament to the work we’ve been doing and I knew it would pay off eventually so I’m very pleased that this weekend it was able to show.” The 2021 US Open winner was also full of praise for the rest of the team and their supporters after ensuring that Britain will be one of 12 nations playing for the BJK Cup trophy in November.
Making a heart with her hand, Raducanu said: “I mean, a lot of love for the crowd out there in Great Britain supporting us and who came out here. I’m very, very pleased to have scored two points, especially on clay against such a tough team.
“On Thursday before the tie we said how tough this would be but honestly I had a good feeling of the confidence in our team. I think we have a very strong team and I’m very pleased to have been able to win two points but it helps so much having Boults this morning, needed us to go 2-1 up.
“And obviously everyone on the bench and the support staff. I mean, they’ve been working around the clock to keep us fit. We finished pretty late last night and then to go again this morning so a massive shoutout. It’s not just me involved it was everyone on here.”
It was a tricky tie for the British team, who were playing on French soil on indoor clay courts. Boulter’s win over Burel on Saturday was her first clay win at tour level while Raducanu also had little experience on the surface.
But they never looked back after a tough start on Friday when Boulter lost to Parry and Raducanu trailed Caroline Garcia by a set and 0-2. She stormed back to win in three sets before Britain won both of their matches on Saturday.
Explaining what it meant to see Boulter win earlier in the day, Raducanu added: “It helped so much and I think especially being a set down I was like, Okay my back is up against the wall but I definitely don’t want to go into the doubles because they’re a very strong doubles team. And I think just to be able to close it out and recover and get it done in the final set meant everything to me. I’m super pleased and happy for Katie how she bounced back after yesterday and today is when it really mattered.”
