‘It’s a great gift to play the best on her way out from the sport,’ says Raducanu

The US Open champion is preparing to face Serena Williams, while fending off familiar questions over her resilience

As Emma Raducanu fielded questions before her debut at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, a wry smile slowly spread across her face and she jokingly held her head in her hands. It is a familiar sight in her press conferences these days as the same question, phrased differently and often by local journalists, has followed her on every stop of the tour: are you feeling the pressure?

I just lost count how many times I've been asked this question," she said. If I lose 2,000 points so be it, I'll start again from the bottom. I know I can do something that no one else has done. I qualified and won the US Open, so I can start from the beginning, I can start from zero and I'm not afraid of that."