Emma Raducanu 'working on feeling a bit more comfortable' playing on clay

Raducanu has made no secret of her discomfort on clay courts and she pulled out of playing in qualifying for last year's French Open as she focused on preparing to play on grass court in her British homeland instead.

Now she is showing more eagerness to play on clay and after picking up a win at the Madrid Open and turning in a battling performance despite a defeat against Marta Kostyuk in her second match.

Raducanu told Sky Sports Tennis: "I want to work on doing things differently to try and bridge the gap between where I am now and where I want to be.

"I'm going to use the season to take pressure off, try and be more aggressive and play the way I want to more so, so it can help me on the other surfaces.

"I had some time off after Madrid and I'm working on feeling a bit more comfortable on this surface. I don't think I'm fully there yet, but I'm just putting in the hard work and keeping going.

"It's a good challenge for my game. I want to try and bridge the gap from where I am now to where I want to be.

"I just want to use this season to take the pressure off and play the way I want to so it can help me on the other surfaces.

"It is exciting, it does feel like a bit of a fresh start with the way I am approaching everything, with the people I have around, with my mindset and outlook."

Raducanu is back in the world's top 50 after her positive performances in Madrid and she has a chance to go higher if she can win matches at the WTA 1000 event in Rome this week and then at the French Open later this month.

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