Emma Raducanu aims to play a lot more tennis in 2025 and her season got off to a successful start at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
The 22-year-old kick-started what she hopes will be a full, injury-free calendar with a scrappy 7-6(4) 7-6(2) victory over the 26th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova to set up a meeting with American Amanda Anisimova.
While it wasn’t pretty - Raducanu overcame 15 double faults throughout her two hours and 16 minutes on court - the 2021 US Open champion was resilient at key moments and played two good tiebreaks to battle through on Court 3.
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“I'm very proud of how I fought and how I overcame certain situations in that match,” the Briton told the press.
“I would say the serve is quite a key shot in the game. Obviously starting the point. I think the thing about it is it's very important to not let it trickle into the rest of your game.
“I've had experience having teething problems with it and then being able to come back and fix it for the next match.”
Since tearing up the tennis rulebook on her way to winning the US Open title as a qualifier three and a half years ago - without dropping a single set in ten matches at Flushing Meadows - Raducanu has had to endure ongoing physical issues that have stopped her generating any kind of momentum.
Most recently in Seoul last September it was a foot injury that stopped her in her tracks and during that lay-off the right-hander made the decision to add to her team renowned strength and conditioning expert Yutaka Nakamura who had formerly worked with Maria Sharapova and Naomi Osaka.
Raducanu and Nakamura appear to have gelled nicely since they began working together in London late last year and, naturally, there will be a lot of focus on how her body holds up this year.
Her season began with back spasms that forced her out of the Auckland WTA tournament a fortnight ago but she was pleased with her physical condition during the win over Alexandrova on a sunny Melbourne day.
“I think for me playing two sets [today] was good, but equally, I felt pretty fit out there,” Raducanu said. “Right now I feel good, as well, in my body. I think it's just a testament to the work I'm starting to do off the court.”
The world No.61 talked enthusiastically in December about the difference Nakamura can make as they work to build a more resilient body.
“I think he is going to help me really explore how far I can go athletically,” Raducanu explained when she broke the news.
“It’s a big strength of mine that I have nowhere near fulfilled. I think I can become one of the best athletes out there in tennis and I’m just looking forward to seeing how much I can do.”
In the days leading up to the opening major of the year she said that there have already been improvements.
“I think having him in my camp has been a really good addition,” she confirmed during her pre-tournament media. “I think building a body, that's a continuous process. I think it's not something that you necessarily put a timeline on.
“I think I do already feel a difference when I step on the court. I feel like I'm quite reactive and explosive. I think that stems from my warm-ups being not necessarily warm-ups, but they're more like a bit of a session. I feel just ready to go when I'm on the court.”
Raducanu will need to be firing early on Thursday when she returns to face Anisimova, a former Grand Slam semifinalist and a player who has reached the last 16 in Australia on three different occasions.