Emma Raducanu excited for 'clean slate' after US Open as she faces Camila Giorgi in Toronto opener
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Updated 08/08/2022 at 11:21 GMT
Emma Raducanu is just a few weeks away from defending her US Open title, which she won last year in stunning fashion as a qualifier. The British No. 1 has not managed to follow up the victory with more success this season and is ready for a fresh start after New York. Raducanu faces defending champion Camila Giorgi in the first round of the National Bank Open this week.
'The only pressure is from you guys' - Raducanu shrugs off same question on pressure
Emma Raducanu is looking forward to starting with a “clean slate” in her career after the US Open is finished.
Raducanu, 19, will be defending champion in New York after her shock victory as a qualifier a year ago.
The win propelled Raducanu up the rankings and turned her into one of the biggest stars on the WTA Tour.
But she has not been able to build on her success this season, winning 11 of 24 singles matches and not making it past the second round of any of the three Grand Slams so far.
Ahead of playing this week’s National Bank Open in Toronto, where she was born, Raducanu said: “To have success at a young age, obviously you have to be really grateful because I'm doing what I love, but also I've reached success way earlier than I ever really would have thought I did. So I'm pretty proud of myself in that way.
"But it has been a tough year. I've definitely gone through and experienced a lot of challenges. To be fair, I've learned a lot from all of it. I think it's going to be nice once the US Open is finished and [I can] carry on from there. Start again.
"I think it will be nice to take all of the lessons from the last year and just [have] a clean slate."
Seeded ninth in Toronto, Raducanu will face defending champion Camila Giorgi in the first round on Tuesday.
Raducanu reached the quarter-finals of the Citi Open in Washington DC last week before losing to Liudmila Samsonova.
She is set to fall down the rankings if she suffers an early exit at the US Open as she will be defending 2,040 points. But, as she did at Wimbledon, Raducanu has again shrugged off suggestions that there is pressure on her shoulders this summer.
"The pressure is only ever what I put on myself or what I expect from myself, I think that's the biggest probably the thing that determines how you deal with it, how you feel.
“But also more of it is just like…I only feel the pressure or think about it whenever I'm in my press conferences because every single question is about pressure. But other than that…the only pressure is from you guys are really."
Serena Williams is also set to take part at the National Bank Open after making her long-awaited return to action at Wimbledon.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion faces qualifier Nuria Parrizas-Diaz in the first round on Monday.
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