{"id":209139,"date":"2025-06-24T01:40:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T01:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/209139\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T01:40:14","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T01:40:14","slug":"carlos-alcaraz-pulls-off-crazy-shots-he-inspires-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/209139\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlos Alcaraz pulls off crazy shots \u2014 he inspires me"},"content":{"rendered":"

They say the very best tennis players have the ability to give themselves that extra little bit of time, not to be hurried into any particular course of action. And while an invitation to play mixed doubles with Carlos Alcaraz might have prompted an immediate and ecstatic \u201cyes\u201d from most people, Emma Raducanu<\/a> was happy to make the Spaniard sweat a little before agreeing to join him in a pairing at this year\u2019s US Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cGot to keep them on their toes, huh?\u201d Raducanu said, as she arrived in Eastbourne to continue her preparations for Wimbledon, having been troubled by a back injury in her quarter-final defeat by Zheng Qinwen at Queen\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, I had to ask my team if they wanted me to play. For me, when he asked me, I was going to say yes. [But] I had to go through the formality of asking my coach, so I didn\u2019t just make the decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"HSBC<\/p>\n

Raducanu will play Ann Li in the first round of the Lexus Eastbourne Open on Tuesday<\/p>\n

MARK GREENWOOD\/IPS\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n

Raducanu, who is seeded No7 in Eastbourne, where she beat Sloane Stephens and Jessica Pegula last year, will face another American, Ann Li, in the first round of the Lexus Eastbourne Open on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Her friendship with her fellow 22-year-old Alcaraz, she revealed, goes back to her first season on tour, when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and won the US Open in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember he was always playing the day before me [at the US Open], and I was playing the second day of the round, and I would see him win and then have motivation to win and get myself into that position too,\u201d she said of the five-times grand-slam singles champion. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe beat Steph [Stefanos Tsitsipas] in the third round. It was his breakout win on a big stage and it was really cool to kind of go through that tournament together. We have a good relationship still. He\u2019s obviously overtaken me a lot, but it\u2019s nice that we have that from a while ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raducanu watched Alcaraz\u2019s Queen\u2019s semi-final against Roberto Bautista Agut from the club\u2019s balcony, and said that his style of play and approach to the game resonated with her.<\/p>\n

\"Queen's<\/p>\n

Raducanu, top right, watched Alcaraz in action at Queen\u2019s last week<\/p>\n

JAVIER GARCIA\/SHUTTERSTOCK<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw some really cool drop volleys and I was like, \u2018Yes, let\u2019s save some of that,\u2019 \u201d she said. \u201cBut he\u2019s got plenty of magic to bring to New York. I think we\u2019re similar in that we both play our best when we\u2019re enjoying it, when you see us smile on the court and have fun and lean into those positive emotions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever I have tried to channel any negativity or that kind of energy, I don\u2019t do so well. And I feel like that\u2019s why he\u2019s able to do such crazy shots and turn points around, because it\u2019s coming from a place of curiosity. It\u2019s amazing to have that on the men\u2019s side and take inspiration when I can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raducanu, who pulled out of last week\u2019s Berlin Open, said her back was \u201cOK\u201d but that she was \u201cstill managing it as best I can\u201d and has \u201cgood and bad days with it\u201d. \u201cI\u2019m doing everything,\u201d she added. \u201cNeedles, soft-tissue, some muscle-stimulation stuff, taping, everything. It\u2019s just ongoing, but it\u2019s OK.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raducanu said the aim for the week is \u201cto put myself in the best possible position, level-wise\u201d for Wimbledon<\/a>, and to gain some potentially fortifying experience in the blustery conditions on the south coast.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlaying clean, ball-strike tennis isn\u2019t necessarily going to always work here and [it\u2019s about] trying to find a way to make it difficult [and play with] variety,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a challenge, but it is good practice, because sometimes in Indian Wells it can be very windy, and that\u2019s a Masters, so you don\u2019t want that to be your first time playing in those conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was success for the other British singles entrants at Eastbourne on Monday, as Dan Evans overcame a wobbly first set to upset Miomir Kecmanovic, the Serbian world No49, in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.<\/p>\n

\"Lexus<\/p>\n

Evans will take on Paul, the second seed, in the round of 16 in Eastbourne<\/p>\n

JOHN WALTON\/PA<\/p>\n

Evans, who has been given a main-draw wild card for Wimbledon, will face the No2 seed, Tommy Paul, in the next round. \u201cIn whatever time I have left, it is a work in progress,\u201d Evans said of his recent performances. \u201cSometimes it takes time. I have been battling away to get [to my best] levels on court, but this is the most confident I have been on grass for a long time.\u201d <\/p>\n

Francesca Jones, the British women\u2019s No5, also advanced, seeing off Belgium\u2019s Greet Minnen 6-4, 7-5.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the 18-year-old Brazilian rising star Jo\u00e3o Fonseca, the youngest player in the top 100, claimed his first Tour-level win on grass, beating Belgium\u2019s Zizou Bergs 6-7, 6-0, 6-3.<\/p>\n

Ann Li v Emma Raducanu<\/p>\n

Lexus Eastbourne Open, round of 32
Tuesday, from 12pm
TV<\/b> BBC iPlayer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"They say the very best tennis players have the ability to give themselves that extra little bit of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":209140,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4105],"tags":[79,1068,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-209139","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-tennis","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114735797135863942","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209139"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209139\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/209140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}