Emma Raducanu finds serve at Nottingham Open that will allow her to compete with world’s best

Emma Raducanu said she was particularly pleased with how she served after completing an impressive 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ukrainian Daria Snigur in Nottingham, which saw the Briton through to her first WTA-event quarter-final on grass.

Raducanu, who fired down 11 aces and quite a few unreturnable serves at key moments in the match, noted that you “need a first serve” to play against the best women in the world such as Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka and said it was something she had been working hard on this year.

The 21-year-old spent eight months out injured last year following surgery to both wrists and one ankle, before returning in January. She appears to have remodelled her service action slightly on her return, cutting the loop out of it so that her racket comes up in front of her before the drop.

Whether it was the action, the windy conditions, or the speed at which the ball was skidding through on the grass, Raducanu’s serve proved a potent weapon against the unorthodox Snigur, an old adversary from her junior days who won Junior Wimbledon in 2019.

In total, the 2021 US Open champion hit 11 aces to Snigur’s one, winning 71 per cent of points on first serve compared with her opponent’s 58 per cent.

“I have been working on every part of my game, but obviously the serve is very important,” Raducanu admitted afterwards. “Since the Middle East [swing], I’ve definitely been working on that. I’m pleased to see the rewards in competition.”

Asked whether it had become more powerful, Raducanu added: “I don’t know. I don’t look at the speed gun. [But] when I raise my game – like at break point down, or at certain points of the game – it’s nice to get a couple of free points, or one free point per game. It makes a huge difference. I don’t think I was able to get that at the beginning of the year.”

She added: “Playing a lot of matches with just a second serve is never fun. Especially against top opponents, like Iga or Aryna, you need a first serve to play them because they’re very comfortable holding serve, and if you don’t have one yourself then it’s very difficult to be on a level playing field.”

Raducanu’s first serves were regularly coming through at between 105mph and 110mph, which is still some way short of the two players she cited, although the cold Nottingham conditions will not have helped. Either way, she had too much for Snigur, whose dispassionate demeanour on court, and unorthodox action – the Ukrainian hits the ball incredibly flat, particularly on the forehand side – belies an effective game.

In total, the 2021 US Open champion hit 11 aces to Snigur’s one, winning 71 per cent of points on first serve compared with her opponent’s 58 per cent.

“I have been working on every part of my game, but obviously the serve is very important,” Raducanu admitted afterwards. “Since the Middle East [swing], I’ve definitely been working on that. I’m pleased to see the rewards in competition.”

Asked whether it had become more powerful, Raducanu added: “I don’t know. I don’t look at the speed gun. [But] when I raise my game – like at break point down, or at certain points of the game – it’s nice to get a couple of free points, or one free point per game. It makes a huge difference. I don’t think I was able to get that at the beginning of the year.”

She added: “Playing a lot of matches with just a second serve is never fun. Especially against top opponents, like Iga or Aryna, you need a first serve to play them because they’re very comfortable holding serve, and if you don’t have one yourself then it’s very difficult to be on a level playing field.”

Raducanu’s first serves were regularly coming through at between 105mph and 110mph, which is still some way short of the two players she cited, although the cold Nottingham conditions will not have helped. Either way, she had too much for Snigur, whose dispassionate demeanour on court, and unorthodox action – the Ukrainian hits the ball incredibly flat, particularly on the forehand side – belies an effective game.