Emma Raducanu reflected on a “positive week” at Indian Wells but admitted defeat to world number one Iga Swiatek in the fourth round showed she has a “long way to go” to get back to full physical fitness.
Raducanu was an injury doubt ahead of the tournament in California after the recurrence of a wrist problem while the 20-year-old was still feeling the effects of a bout of tonsillitis, but managed to pull off some of her best victories since her US Open run.
The British No 1 defeated Australian Open semi-finalist Magda Linette and world No 13 Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the fourth round, where Swiatek won their second competitive meeting in straight sets.
Raducanu said she tired in the second set after coming into Indian Wells short of match practice as she now aims for a consistent block of training ahead of the Miami Open later this month.
“I can take a positive week,” Raducanu told BBC Sport after her 6-3 6-1 defeat to Swiatek, which came in an hour and 24 minutes.
“I think I had a few good wins earlier against some great opponents. I did two good training weeks in London. They paid off to an extent but ultimately two weeks of training isn’t going to cut it against the world number one right now.
“I’m looking forward to playing her after I’ve got more time under my belt. Physically I feel like that’s going to be one of my biggest assets. I think that I’m going to be one of the best athletes on the tour, and that’s going to be a big part of my game.
“I would say there is a very long way to go, but I’m definitely starting the right work now.”
Swiatek is the reigning Indian Wells champion and the 21-year-old is looking to repeat her ‘Sunshine Swing’ double this season.
“I think that Iga showed why she is number one in the world," Raducanu added. “She was very ruthless with the way that she played. I think I was able to stay competitive for the beginning of the match but ultimately she ground me down and by the end of it I was just taking way too long to recover from one rally.”
