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Emma Raducanu has revealed she has changed her mindset after a challenging start to 2025, with her broad smile on evidence once again after beating Suzan Lamens in her opening match at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid.
The 2021 US Open champion took a break from the WTA Tour following her run to the Miami Open quarter-finals last month and embarked a training block with her part-time coach Mark Petchey ahead of the clay-court swing.
That work appeared to reap reward as Raducanu beat Lamens 7-6(4) 6-4 in an impressive opening to her clay court season.
In what was her first WTA Tour win on clay since 2022, with her previous one coming at the French Open and she admitted she was pushed all the way by Lamens.
World No 73 Lamens again made a strong start to the second set and moved 2-0 up, but Raducanu responded to break twice and served out at the first time of asking and she won the key points when the pressure was applied.
“I know I had to play really well to win and although it wasn’t always my best, I got stuck in at the right moments,” said Raducanu in her on-court interview.
It’s nice to be relaxed and then when I go on the court, I feel I am switched on. There is a time and a place for everything.
“To have won my first match on outdoor clay in years means a lot.
“I am working my way into it, I don’t think I am the finished product by far, but I am very happy I gave myself another opportunity to play and bank even more experience.
“It was a big mental challenge. [Lamens] has had a lot of wins on clay, so I knew she was in form and I didn’t necessarily feel that way before the match.”
“I’m proud of how I competed. It is a strength of mine when I can use it.
“It’s for sure different stepping into the competition, especially on clay. I haven’t played many matches on this surface, so it does feel a little foreign to me.
“I’m happy with how I kind of worked my way into the match. I played an opponent in great form who has won a lot of matches on clay so I knew I had to play really well to win. I don’t think I played my best level, but I think I competed really well.”
The win against Lamens fired Raducanu up to No 47 in the live WTA Rankings and a win in her next match against Marta Kostyuk would fire her closer to the target of a place in the top 32 of the rankings and a seeding for the French Open.
