Emma Raducanu joins Nottingham backlash: ‘I feel like I beat her and the umpire’
Emma Raducanu said she felt like she was playing “two versus one on court” by having to beat not only her opponent “but the umpire as well” as she clinched her first victory on British soil in 713 days. Raducanu became the second British player in two days to complain about the standard of umpiring at the WTA event in Nottingham after Harriet Dart’s outburst on Monday, when she described the umpiring during her first round defeat by British No 1 Katie Boulter as “appalling”.
At one stage Dart even bet the chair umpire £50,000 that a ball she had called in was actually out, and Raducanu said on Tuesday that “quite a few players” were talking about the standard of line-calling at an event which does not have Hawk-Eye.
In the end, Raducanu came through her first-round clash against Japanese-American qualifier Ena Shibahara safely enough, winning 6-1, 6-4 and describing herself afterwards as “very pleased” with both her tennis and her fitness, having spent eight months on the sidelines last year following surgery to both wrists and an ankle that forced her to miss the entire 2023 grasscourt swing including Nottingham and Wimbledon.
It was also her first competitive match in seven weeks, having chosen to skip the French Open to allow herself more time to transition to grass.
The 2021 US Open champion, who received a rapturous welcome from the packed crowd on Centre Court, certainly had too much for doubles specialist Shibahara. Deploying what looked like a slightly remodelled service action, cutting the loop out of it so that her racket came up in front of her before the drop, Raducanu moved well throughout and did not seem to be holding back with her groundstrokes, hitting with power and accuracy.
Shibahara tried to come into the net but frequently found it too hot to handle when she did, with Raducanu arrowing balls at her feet or down the flanks.
Raducanu fumes over lines calls
Raducanu’s bigger issue appeared to be with the umpires. Like Dart on Monday, she was exasperated by some of the line-calling, particularly a volley from Shibahara at 1-1 in the first set that landed somewhere near the tram line and which was called in. Raducanu remonstrated with chair umpire Ana Carvalho. “She literally reacted like it was out,” she said of her opponent. “No way.”
Having taken the first set 6-1, Raducanu breezed into a 5-1 lead in the second and looked as if she would wrap things up in less than an hour. However, the 21-year-old made heavy weather of closing things out. Again, Raducanu felt as if she got unlucky with a line call, particularly when serving at 5-3.
Smiles all around @EmmaRaducanu picks up the win in her opening match in straight sets!#RothesayOpen pic.twitter.com/7M7lbDfOdb
— wta (@WTA) June 11, 2024
“I mean, I feel like I was playing two vs one on court, it was insane,” she said later, smiling, when asked later how many challenges she would have used had HawkEye been available. “I would have probably used at least four [today]! I think a lot of the time they go both ways. Today I felt they were all against me. But it just makes me feel better that I managed to beat her and the umpire as well.
“It’s not just me, yesterday Harriet was saying the same thing. At this tournament quite a few players say it.
She added: “Maybe it was just trying to make the match more competitive? It was 6-1 and 5-1 and all of a sudden, first point serving at 5-3, it’s a really bad line call. It’s something I had to deal with and overcome. I am very pleased with the attitude I came out with from the get-go and also having to deal with the adversity.”
Dart suggested on Monday that it was time for the WTA to introduce electronic line-calling “everywhere for everyone’s sake”. Human line judges will be replaced by an electronic calling system on a full-time basis on the ATP Tour from next year, although the WTA is not in the same financial position. But Raducanu, who eventually broke Shibahara to 30 to close out the second set 6-4, did not feel that was necessary.
“More and more tournaments are getting Hawk-Eye,” she noted. “I think there is a beauty in having all the linesemen and it [human line-calling] does add to the drama for the spectators. For us, it can be the most frustrating thing ever. But I’m not going to lie, I feel like this year Hawk-Eye has been a little bit off. I don’t know why.
“It doesn’t really make a difference at the end of the day. The majority of points are not won on challenges.”
Raducanu, who will play Ukraine’s Daria Snigur in the round of 16, said she was just delighted to have got her grass court swing off to a winning start.
Having reached the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2021 before retiring hurt, she knows she is a threat on the surface if she can stay fit, particularly with a vocal crowd behind her. “An element of me forgot what it was like to play at home and have that support behind and it is amazing, it’s a great feeling,” she concluded.
