British Tennis Forum - Celebrating 20 Years!

paulisi · Tennis legend

Week 39 - WTA1000 Beijing, China - Hard

Peter too · Tennis legend

R3: Emma Raducanu (GBR) [30] WR32 lost to Jessica Pegula (USA) [5] WR7 6-3 6-7(9) 0-6
R3: Sonay Kartal (GBR) WR81 (CH=44 2025) def Maya Joint (AUS) WR36 =CH 6-3 6-2

R4: Sonay Kartal (GBR) WR81 (CH=44 2025) v Mirra Andreeva (***) [4] WR5 =CH

Tennpar · Club Coach

Way to go Sonay smile smile

Jan · Hall of fame

Oh no - I had to go out after the second set. Emma was playing so well cry

And a belated very well done to Sonay!

-- Edited by Jan on Monday 29th of September 2025 12:05:18 PM

9vicman · Futures level

You couldn't make it up for Emma: two weeks in a row she misses three match points, loses a long tiebreak and runs out of steam in the third.

I think Sonay is quite happy to be under the radar and letting her tennis speak for itself.

B00thy · Club Coach

I too had to go out during the tie break, Emma still playing a great level of tennis. Shocked to see the bagel.

But I was massively heartened to see that level. It was above anything she's produced before.

I believe these near misses will make her stronger, and that is what she needs.

As for Sonay she is now producing higher level tennis. Never mind #2, I can see her running Emma close if she continues to improve at this rate

B00thy · Club Coach

paulisi wrote:
Emma has run out of gas, not chasing everything down like in the previous sets

Shame I couldn't see her performance in the 3rd set. With Emma, the Gas she runs out of usually, is in her belief, not her legs

Peter too · Tennis legend

She is getting so close to beating the top players, it shouldn't be long before she starts converting these close matches to wins. If she has trouble lasting three sets she will just have to get back to the approach she had at the US Open in 2021, i.e. win every match in two.

Var · Futures level

I thought Emma played some sublime tennis in that match. Not yet consistent all the way through but that was a good level. As Roig would say, I am not interested necessarily in the results but how she plays. Work to do to keep up the momentum in the third set but I think there are very encouraging signs from this performance.

indiana · Tennis legend

Peter too wrote:
She is getting so close to beating the top players, it shouldn't be long before she starts converting these close matches to wins. If she has trouble lasting three sets she will just have to get back to the approach she had at the US Open in 2021, i.e. win every match in two.

Ha, that works. Though seriously if Emma is healthy, however much such drop offs are due to either fitness or belief, these can be sorted. Both can and should be worked on.

Great to be getting to the levels she more often is again, but these are levels that she should be able to get at least close to for 3 sets.

HarryGem · Club Coach

B00thy wrote:
I too had to go out during the tie break, Emma still playing a great level of tennis. Shocked to see the bagel.

But I was massively heartened to see that level. It was above anything she's produced before.

I believe these near misses will make her stronger, and that is what she needs.

As for Sonay she is now producing higher level tennis. Never mind #2, I can see her running Emma close if she continues to improve at this rate

I'm not sure I agree with that. Almost the same scenario two tournaments in a row. 2 great sets, close tie break and total collapse. Losing in this way can just as easily become a habit as winning can. The more often she produces a good level and gets close to beating top players but fails the harder it becomes to get over the line.

The question is the collapse mental or physical? If the former that is harder to overcome. It is of course only two matches but the almost identical pattern to them is of concern.

About Sonay I agree with you. She's playing a very good consistent level and seems to have a good mental approach to her matches. She could easily be Gb number 1 this time next year.

indiana · Tennis legend

It will be very interesting to see and while Sonay has reached levels I would certainly not have anticipated, to my mind it is still very clear which Brit has the highest potential top end ranking and that's Emma.

But it is up to Emma and her team to make that happen.

christ · Futures level

indiana wrote:
... to my mind it is still very clear which Brit has the highest potential top end ranking and that's Emma.

I think it is clear to Ms Raducanu too, which may be part of the problem.

dodrade · Futures qualifying

9vicman wrote:
Thirteen games dropped in three matches having been winless on the tour since Wimbledon. Think BJKC did her the power of good.

I think her game is also suited more to slow surfaces in contrast to the relatively fast hard courts of the US swing.

Coup Droit · Tennis legend

dodrade wrote:
9vicman wrote:
Thirteen games dropped in three matches having been winless on the tour since Wimbledon. Think BJKC did her the power of good.
I think her game is also suited more to slow surfaces in contrast to the relatively fast hard courts of the US swing.

Any sign of Mr Bates over there ? smile