Google News Fernando Gonzalez on Emma Raducanu: The other players now want to beat her
by DZEVAD MESIC | VIEW 2285
2007 Australian Open runner-up Fernando Gonzalez says it will take some time for Emma Raducanu to adapt to her new life on the WTA Tour but he is confident she will be fine. Raducanu, 19, made all the headlines after she became the first qualifier ever to win a Grand Slam.
Raducanu capped off a stunning US Open campaign with a straight-set win over Leylah Fernandez in the final. “She will need a few months to adapt to everything now,” Gonzalez exclusively told Tennis365. “To be the US Open champion is a lot for her to take in when you consider she was ranked at 150 before that event started and now she is the player everyone talks about.
“I saw some moments of Raducanu’s first qualifying round at the US Open and there are like five people watching. Then two and a half weeks later, she is winning the big prize money and she is the champion in front of a full crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium and all around the world knows about her.
It is an amazing story."
Gonzalez calls for patience on Raducanu
In her first tournament following her US Open victory, Raducanu suffered a surprise loss to Aliaksandra Sasnovich in her Indian Wells Masters opener. World No.
19 Raducanu then made the Cluj-Napoca quarterfinal before suffering a surprise loss to Xinyu Wang in her Linz opener. “We have to give her some time because clearly she is a great player with a great mentality and she will have a big career.
To reach a Grand Slam final so early in your career and play such a great match against a player from your own generation was tough, but she won," Gonzaled added. “Now everyone is looking at her, expecting her to do something special and the other players want to beat her. That can be tough, but she is going to be fine”.
